What is the significance of flags in the novel, The Winners (Beartown Series)?

Flags serve as symbols of stability, inhumanity, and mourning in the novel. Tails, for example, hurries to take down the flags in front of the hockey stadium because he believes if the people wake in the morning to find the flags are destroyed, they will believe the entire town is ruined. Tails run past Matteo on his way to take down the flags. Matteo interprets his behavior as being more concerned about the flags than he is about people. Tails does not seem to notice he had passed a young boy out alone in the storm as he heads for the flags. The flags are also symbols of mourning. After Ramona dies, Tails and the caretaker raise the flags only to half-mast.