Animal Farm

The Seven Commandments are the moral principles of Animalism as articulated by Snowball and Napoleon. Painted by the two pigs on the side of the barn in white paint, they are an “unalterable law” (18) that the animals must live by. The Seven Commandments remind us of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, which were given by God to the Israelites to govern their moral conduct. In contrast to the all-embracing nature of the Biblical commandments, the Seven Commandments sound simplistic and naïve, as befits a group of farmyard animals. Commandments 1, 2, and 7 proclaim comradeship and equality among all animals, while the rest forbid animals to participate in various human activities.

The pigs’ initial description of the laws as “unalterable” proves ironic later on, when Napoleon and his minions prove all too willing to change the laws to excuse their actions. The animals passively acquiesce to the altered commandments, believing that they are simply misremembering what the wall used to say. The lowest point in this moral devolution comes when the pigs delete all of the commandments and replace them with a single commandment: “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others” (96). This marks the moment when we realize that the corruption of Animal Farm is complete.

The progress of the Seven Commandments charts the progress of Animal Farm as a whole. Through them, Orwell suggests that the health of a society depends on its ethics and laws. When leaders compromise and water down moral rules, the ensuing amorality harms those on the lower rung of society. Orwell suggests the necessity for objective and changeless moral rules to govern a society.

After the victory over Jones, Snowball fashions the Animal Farm flag out of an old green tablecloth, painting on it a hoof and horn in white paint. He explains that the green represents the fields of England, and the horn and hoof represent the future Republic of Animals (23). This flag is meant to parody the flag of the Soviet Union, the Hammer and Sickle, which symbolized worker solidarity. The animals’ flag symbolizes their hoped-for dominance over the countryside of Britain.

The flag is hoisted above the barn on Sundays as the animals meet. Like “Beasts of England” and the Seven Commandments, the flag functions as a symbol of solidarity and belonging. The animals are proud to live on the only animal-run farm in the world and desire to see its ideals spread far and wide. Also like with those other symbols, the flag’s fortunes parallel those of the society it represents. In Chapter 10, Napoleon removes the hoof and horn from the flag, leaving a field of plain green. He does so to compromise with the humans with whom he has allied to govern Animal Farm. Thus, what made Animal Farm distinctive—a society created by and for animals—has been visibly erased.