Trump flag photo joins pantheon of images that capture American resolve, erase political divides

A startling image of former President Donald J. Trump surviving an assassination attempt on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, has become an instant cultural sensation. 

Moments after a bullet struck his ear and missed a fatal headshot by mere millimeters, the former president and now 2024 GOP presidential nominee rose to his feet with blood streaked across his face and raised his fist in defiant triumph beneath an American flag in front of a blue, cloudless sky.

The scene, framed almost perfectly...