Concentrating on just a small segment of the flag makes this shot more unusual than many stars and stripes images around. I like the composition too with the slightly S shaped curve from blue to white. Lighting seems a little mixed - too shaded in lower area and bright enough on the stars to wash out teh detail of the threads. But nice overall with great cropping.
I look at this image and I dont immediately think of parallel lines. The lines as shown in this image aren't parallel looking at all. They're wavy looking (even if I know they are parallel on the flag itself) While I dont think this is very original at all I'm not going to give you a low score based on that or the message it conveys. I've seen an american flag before and the colours are bright and vibrant. The colours in this image look subdued and flat. Better lighting and a different arrangement of the lines in this picture would have yielded a higher score from me.