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.

  • Balthasar~@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    I am from Germany and no one is raising a flag. Except he is a Nazi. Or it is soccer World Championship.

    • Zednix@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      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.

  • TXinTXe@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    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)

        • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          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.

          • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            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.

            • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              To change what it implies, to change what it’s associated with, to change what it symbolizes.

              The phenomena I describe is much broader than the US and the current time period. It has existed across time and cultures, implying that there are broader factors at play than the opinions and behaviors of contemporary US culture. Flag waving nationalism is damn near universal. Americans only differ by how universally people feel the need to wave the flag.

              My greater point is that you can’t change what the flag symbolizes by having different opinions and flying the flag. Symbols are just that: symbols. To change what the flag means you must either change what the US does or change the flag. Embracing national symbols only emboldens nationalism if your nation isn’t diametrically opposed to nationalism.

              “That’s ours, we own it and it represents our values. See it flying everywhere? That’s because we own this nation, we’re the one’s in charge here, not you”

              This is quite literally true and always has been. You don’t see flags representing the Lakota or Seneca nations anywhere, and the 13 stripes are a direct hat nod to the European colonization wiped them out. The state will not stop systematically repressing indigenous, black, or other marginalized peoples if progressives suddenly start identifying with the flag. It will just make progressives look supporters or useful idiots to that state oppression.

              Why would I want to prevent right-wingers from taking sole ownership of something intended to represent a state with long history of right-wing violence, slavery, and military interventionism? They can have it. It’s as perfect of a symbol for right-wingers as any other. Should we fly the swastika to reclaim it too?

    • krimsonbun@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Also from Spain, I don’t think the right hasreally appropriated the flag since it’s always been a rightist flag. But yeah I know what you mean.

    • Mat66@eslemmy.es
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      1 year ago

      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 😏 🙄

      https://eslemmy.es/

  • aragon@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I am from India. It was illegal to fly the flag untill a decade ago. It took a supreme court verdict to get the right to fly the flag in private residences. So it is not common at all. You would see government buildings and some schools hoist the flag every day. In my school it was every Friday. I have walked around suburbs in US and almost every house had a flag in their porch. Very big ones too.

  • NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • DippinDoots@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      A lot of people in our small (US) town seem to not like our flag. We happily fly it and a pride flag.

  • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Australian here. Outside of official government uses, it’s generally a sign that someone is a racist fuckwit.

  • bstix@feddit.dk
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    1 year ago

    It’s weirdly common in Denmark. People fly the national flag for birthdays, and some people even decorate the Christmas tree with flag guirlandes. It’s seen as an act of celebration rather than patriotism.

    https://tenor.com/bRmME.gif

    • v_krishna@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      OP sounds strange to me I feel like all Scandinavians have their flag a lot, on birthday cakes and for graduations and such. I definitely experienced this in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

      • Countsheep@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        Yeah I see it all the time in Sweden. Not on cars so much but flagpoles and such especially when it is a nice day out

  • Jimi_Hotsauce@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • Oxossi@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    In Brazil it’s more common now mainly because of the far right who appropriated it for themselves. Most will identify a person flying our flag as a Bolsonaro supporter, me personally like to stay clear of them.

    • T4V0
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      1 year ago

      I miss /r/suddenlycaralho.

  • tmpodMA
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • esm@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • Nythos@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Tends to be the same case in England with people flying the St George’s cross and the Union Jack

      • siriusmart@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        undefined> Sc

        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.

  • reflex_aliens@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Very common in Mexico during September. Otherwise not that common but also not frowned upon. There’s no significance behind it.

  • IverCoder@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    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.

  • loops@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    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.

    • datavoid@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Nothing brings a family together like waving your country’s flag from an overpass while yelling at traffic

    • TWeaK@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      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.

      • loops@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        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.

  • Hyacathusarullistad@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    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?

    • Melon_Cooler@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Yeah, it’s not unheard of to see someone flying a flag here, but it’s definitely not as common as in the US. It’s still much more common here than other countries I’ve been to though.

      Within the past year or two I’ve definitely started associating people flying Canadian flags on their houses/cars with a certain (unpleasant) type of person.