David Lindsley presents a little background information on his painting:
In my early sketches for this painting, I had drawn Captain Moroni holding a sword. Looking closer at the scriptures in Alma 46:13, it says that he put on armor and shields - but it gives no mention of a sword. Well, I'm sure he had a sword!Over the course of several days, I decided to place a shield in his hand instead of a sword. A sword represents offense, but a shield is defense. The Nephites were all about defending themselves from the warring Lamanites.
Taking a closer look at the flag, please notice that the lettering is actually readable. At first glance, most people don’t see it, but all the words of the Title of Liberty are actually there, in an ancient-style font.On the flag, it mentions "God" and "Religion" on the first line (which can be summarize as 'Religion') - the second line has "Freedom" and "Peace ('Country') and the third line has "Wives" and "Children" ('Family').
So then the Title of Liberty is about defending Religion, Country, and Family.
We always hear how the BofM was written specifically for our day - so now, just as then, Religion, Country, and Family are under attack and need to be defended.
As shown in the sketch above, I was planning on having a lot of figures all around Captain Moroni shouting and waving swords. But as I had changed the overall tone from "Let's go kill some Lamanites!" to a more defensive one, it took me quite a bit of time to decide just what to put in their place.Eventually, I decided to portray a simple Nephite village with the inhabitants going about their daily activities and living their lives. This is what the Title of Liberty is all about. Notice too, that there are more flags on the tops of towers. This reflects the passage found in Alma 46:36
And it came to pass also, that he caused the title of liberty to be hoisted upon every tower which was in all the land, which was possessed by the Nephites; and thus Moroni planted the standard of liberty among the Nephites.I think it’s important to read and know what is on the flag that Captain Moroni was so anxious for his people to see and revere.In keeping with this spirit, I have also made modified versions of my painting in Spanish, French, and German!