Sugarland Extend Call to ‘Revolution’ With Love Flag

Sugarland are known for their energetic performances, tight vocal harmonies -- and the trademark 'love flag' that they fly at the beginning of their encore during each show.

"Every night during 'Stand Up,' I paint a flag with the word "love" on it," says the duo's Jennifer Nettles on their website. "Kristian [Bush] is singing the reprise at the beginning of 'Incredible Machine' and we choose a child each night to carry that flag through the audience. There's a part of that song that's sort of a call to revolution in a way. I also believe that love itself, there's a part of love that can be revolutionary."

The idea for the simple flag was birthed from a conversation Kristian was having with his duo partner. "This first came about when I was trying to describe to Jennifer -- we were talking between the two of us -- how we feel the politics of the heart," he explains. "The politics of the heart are different than the politics of men and government. The politics of the heart are believing in humanity. There's something powerful about waving a white flag, a giant white flag, in a field with 'love' spray-painted on it, instead of maybe war, or a country or something. It's about what's in your heart.

"Then to parade that through an arena, by a child, is one of probably the most humbling and true versions of that you could ever think of," he continues. "I love that. I love the idea that just about anybody could grab a stick and tie a bed sheet to it, and find a can of spray paint, and say something. That's powerful. I love it. I love it every night. I love clapping for that child, and for us as humans. How often do you get to wave that flag? We wave all the others."

The purpose of the flag is to extend a call of action to their thousands of fans that pack the concert hall each night. "We do like to send a message and subversively point our finger to something that we feel is in the way of light," Jennifer notes. "And of course, love is that."

The award-winning duo flew the flag, joined by hundreds of fans waving smaller flags, during their performance of 'Stand Up' at last night's CMT Awards, where they took home the belt buckle trophy for Duo Video of the Year for their No. 1 single, 'Stuck Like Glue.'

The twosome will spend most of the summer on the road, including stops in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Colorado. Keep track of their packed schedule here.