I was asked about the pictures on the banner. They were chosen to represent various facets of honor.

The first is of an unnamed Bedouin warrior, taken in Jerusalem around the turn of the century.  Thanks to Frank Stewart’s seminal Honor, every student of honor knows a little about how important honor is to the Bedouin. This picture also represents the pre-Islamic honor traditions that pervade the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia.

The second is of Lucretia, by Lucas Cranach the Younger. Her story represents the way honor so often was—and still is—used to justify strict demands on female chastity. Her story also evokes honor’s role in motivating people to overthrow leaders who fail to respect the dignity of those they rule.

The third picture is of Admiral Nelson. As remarkable for his self-promotion as for his bravery, he represents the last gasps of an older war ethic that saw battle as a means to winning distinction and glory.

The fourth picture is of a Norman Rockwell painting called “I Will Do My Best.” It represents a historically recent, “straight-laced” and “pro-social” sort of honor we associate with the Boy Scouts: honor as integrity, self-sacrifice, loyalty, and scrupulous honesty.

Finally, we have Robert E. Lee, who suggests the tradition of honor scholarship that focuses on the American South’s spiritedness, martial heritage, aristocratic structure, and propensity for violence.