While the world seems to be focussed on Iraq, Washington and a few square miles surrounding Jerusalem there are problems in other places. Bolivia for example seems to be going from bad to worse with an apparent split between the Andean Altiplano and the Jungly parts around Santa Cruz.
Protesters use the flag, in part, because they claim to be the legitimate voice of the pueblo. Which doesn't quite translate properly into "people" (a plural individual noun), but more like "nation" (a singular community noun).
Still, there are two important caveats to the Bolivian flag-waving protesters meme. One, is that many protesters in the Andean altiplano prefer to wave the whiphala instead. Those who self-identify as members of an "indigenous" community often protest w/ the multi-colored whiphala flag rather than the Bolivian national flag. Still, the national flag usually flies alongside, or at least w/ decent representation.
The second is for protesters in Santa Cruz. Here, you'll notice a different set of flags altogether. No whiphalas, but few national flags either. Instead, protesters will deliberately carry & wave the green-white-green flags of Santa Cruz. The usage, I believe, is significant.
From what I'm reading in Miguel's blog the country has effectively split, and that is going to have a bad effect on the economy of the Altiplano which seems to have limited resources and extraordinarily stupid demagogues. As we all know when demagogues fail to deliver on their promises they find someone else to blame - expect a war when the someone else declines to accept responsibility.