Flagging Sophistication

I never could understood why it is considered the height of sophistication to aver that "Flags are just pieces of cloth with color on them."

That's like saying that books are just wood pulp with ink on them. Or humans are just sacks of flesh with blood and bones in them. Or movies are just projections of light through celluloid.

Sure, all of the above are technically true, but they entirely miss the point.