American liberty is presented as a nation-defining ideal built on the sacrifices of men and women who gave their lives in service to their country, defended through a belief that all men are created equal and through a continuing willingness to bear hardship in freedom’s cause. The Freedom Fountain’s design embodies these ideas through a stainless steel five-point star symbolizing the strength, purity, and protection of America’s military, colored stone representing the branches of the United States Armed Forces, and two rocks from the Ozark Mountains expressing a native bedrock from which generations of Americans, immigrant and native-born alike, share freedom as an American birthright. Water spilling across the star symbolizes freedom as an abundant and free-flowing gift that moves through the military to the citizenry and beyond American shores, reflecting a national pledge since independence to aid people around the world who suffer oppression and tyranny, and affirming that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.