My ex from Norway mentioned how unusual it was that so many places and people here fly our flag (USA), so I was curious to hear what it’s like for others here on the fediverse.
I am from Germany and no one is raising a flag. Except he is a Nazi. Or it is soccer World Championship.
That’s kind of sad. It’s getting that way in Canada. Trudeau has called people every ism and ist when they are carrying a Canadian flag that people don’t fly it very much.
It’s not perceived as sad because it’s just something most people have no desire to do. Flags just aren’t a super common decoration you see outside of store advertisements and official government buildings. “I should install a flag pole on my property” is already a rare thought in most places and a lot of people then rather put a flag about something that is special to them on there. In line with that thought, being German in Germany obviously isn’t that special, so it’s usually not your choice of “displaying something that is special to me” unless you have a right-wing mindset. You’ll more often see football teams, maybe music bands and the more rare political issue here and there, like “stop nuclear power plants”.
Canada here, not very common until you get close to Canada day or Armistice day. Recently though; there have been people flying it a lot and they mostly seem to be the conspiracy/queen of Canada types.
So yes, it is unusual. Perhaps it can be seen as a symptom of American nationalism, and all the pitfalls it represents.
Canada here, not very common until you get close to Canada day or Armistice day.
It’s very common if you’re travelling Europe and are American.
My Grandpa almost got mugged in …Spain I think, but the guys seen that he had a tim hortons mug and a Canadian flag sowed onto his bag, so they left him alone lol.
I’m from Spain, it’s not uncommon unfortunately, but that’s because the flag is appropriated by the right and far right and if you see someone with one you can be 90% sure of the type (homophobe, anti abortion, bullfighting supporter, climate change denier, etc etc)
Could say the same about Germany
The problem that the origin of our flag is dated in 1785 but because we were under the Dictatorship of Franco for 40 years, young people identifies the flag with that regimen (extreme right). But not everydody things that way 😏 🙄
It has become that way in the US.
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Flying your country’s flag soft implies that you like your country, liking your country soft implies that you support and enjoy the status quo of your country. Conservatives seek to preserve the status quo. Therefore, conservatives and supporters of the status quo will always have a greater connection to the flag than those who are marginalized in the same country.
Patriotism and nationalism have a strong association, independent of how people opposed to nationalism feel about it. Why would we want to adopt a symbol that is even loosely associated with nationalism or suggests contentness with the status quo if we want to significantly change the status quo?
I disagree progressives flying the flag enables the hate of the right. In fact, I feel the opposite; flying the flag normalizes nationalistic tendencies instead of making you look like an obsessed weirdo.
Wanted to add to this, a couple other reasons why progressive-minded people wouldn’t want to fly the flag:
There’s inherent colonial symbolism in the 13 stripes on the flag, and flying it also can be seen as a celebration of colonial conquest over native lands.
If liberals regularly fly the flag, leaving only left-wing people who dislike the US as the only people not flying the flag, not flying the flag will actively become a political statement, placing a target on their backs, and becoming a reason to antagonize people just living their lives.
Here in the Philippines, it’s generally around only on government buildings and schools. Some establishments and residences may opt to fly the flag as well, but most of us just don’t bother at all.
Generally the flag doesn’t have any negative (or positive) connotations. Both the leftists and rightists see the flag equally.
From the US, I see American flags everywhere.
Some small towns have a flag on every electrical pole on their main street. It used to just be around Memorial Day and the 4th of July, but a lot of towns seem to be leaving them up year round.
A huge proportion of houses in US suburbs and rural areas have flags flying. If you have wealth or a big chunk of land, it’s pretty certain you also have a flag flying or prominently displayed on your property. Less frequent on the porches of more modest homes.
Pickup trucks fly flags (sometimes multiple) attached to their beds. These trucks often also have punisher stickers, human skulls, or “thin blue line” flag stickers on them.
Most medium to large businesses have a flag pole on their campus.
I definitely see fewer flags in cities, but still see a lot of flag stickers on storefront windows, and flags in apartment bedroom windows.
A lot of people in our small (US) town seem to not like our flag. We happily fly it and a pride flag.
I’m in Canada and would say it’s not extremely common, but enough so that I wouldn’t think twice if I saw the flag on a house. Maybe one in fifty houses has one.
Sometimes it’s on clothing too, but nowhere close to the extent that I’ve seen the American flag on everything when I’ve visited. You guys seem to really really like your flag!
We also have provincial flags which people will put on their houses, but the one I see most is for Newfoundland and Labrador, which is a different province than mine. It’s arguably close to as common as the Canadian flag.
Yup. I’d say the Canadian flag isn’t super common but isn’t out of the ordinary. I also don’t see people waving the flag and think the person must be some extremist nut job. Those ones are waving around “F*ck Trudeau” flags.
Im from Newfoundland, generally the type of people here who fly the national flag are also flying flags from other provinces and nations along side it.
Seems to be the custom to fly the flag of a nation that a relative or friend lives in. Sometimes you see flags for causes they support as well, like the ‘Every Child Matters’ flags, pride flags, and the Ukrainian flag has been pretty popular lately.
Its pretty rare to see just the Canada flag or just the provincial/republic flag on its own outside of government property.
In Australia there are flags at government buildings and very rarely do I see any in personal homes.
When I went to Norway I counted the flags I saw. I forget the exact number but I saw maybe 6 in the week I was there. Come back to the US I saw at least 20 coming back from the airport.
German here. No, we don’t do that here. (Exceptions: Football World Cup and weird dudes on camp sites or allotment gardens. Usually a sign to avoid the area.) Interestingly, the fascists don’t show the German flag, but the one from the Germany before the current one…
Here in Canada (southwestern Ontario, anyway) it’s around, but not super common. You see it on government buildings (municipal, provincial, and federal), but that’s about it. You don’t often see it on people’s homes, vehicles, or businesses the way you see in the States, and it’s not something you see on merch very often outside of tourist traps or Canada Day.
Except, ironically, for at some of the bigger and more famous American retail chains. Walmart and Home Depot both have a Canadian flag planted firmly in every location, it seems. Maybe because they’re so used to flying their own flag in the States that they just assume it’s what everyone does everywhere?
In Scotland, it tends to indicate your political beliefs. People flying the Union Jack are normally unionists and supporters of the monarchy, whereas people flying the Saltire (Scottish) flag are normally nationalists (pro-independence). It’s therefore difficult to fly a flag ‘neutrally’ unless you were to fly both.
Tends to be the same case in England with people flying the St George’s cross and the Union Jack
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usually its the churches and during the world cup we see St George’s cross, it’s more of the Union Jack or Ukraine flags here in suburb London.
Austria: not often and I like that. Not a fan of nationalism, so the less visible this is in my life the better. I see flags IRL mainly on government functions and when right wingers parade around, maybe also near football matches, that‘s about it.
I‘d like to think the history with Nazis made it less popular, but the actual amount of far-right voters makes me think I might just live in a happy little bubble and I’d be shocked if I looked into people‘s cellars.
Canada: VERY common and considered standard practice, we like to make fun of the Americans for being obsessed with their flag but overall we’re just as bad. It’s also flown by Nazis as often as the American flag is.
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Here in Portugal, unless there’s a national football team game, or some otherwise nationwide event going on, it’s rare seeing it. There’s some merch-like items with our flag and “branding”, but it’s mostly tourists.
Burger here. You’re considered a freak if you don’t have a flag flying. Then again, I do live in a white suburb.
