Thousands of flags flooding the National Mall is stunning, and the reason for them is moving

Inaugurations are usually full of big crowds and much fanfare, but given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (and the Capitol riots earlier this month), President-elect Joe Biden is going for a more scaled-down inauguration.

But there will still be impactful and symbolic moments.

One of the first glimpses of Biden’s inauguration was revealed Monday night, when thousands of U.S. state and territory flags were set across the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol with lights beaming on them.

The flags are being called the Field of Flags, and they represent people who cannot attend the inauguration because of the ongoing pandemic.

It’s a stunning art installation, and people on Twitter are already praising it for being super creative and incredibly moving.

It will be interesting to see if the Biden inauguration will have any more symbolic gestures or art installations to acknowledge just how different this ceremony will be from previous years.