Doesn’t bother me in the least. Actually, I think it’s kind of neat. Don’t care if it’s a foreign flag, the state flag, some political statement flag, some colorful non-political flag…
Technically, when multiple flags are displayed in the US the US flag is always supposed to be the highest flag flying, so the proper way to do it on, say, the flag pole outside a private home is the American flag on top with the others underneath. If the US flag is not in the multiple flag display then it doesn’t matter which, if any, is highest.
I don’t mind. I have fun trying to identify some of the less-familiar ones.
The only time I see/hear people around here getting pissy about it is when it’s the Mexican flag at Cinco de Mayo. I go to a lot of cultural festivals around town, and at the Irish Festival, Scottish Festival, Greek Festival, etc., the flying of a different flag is cool. Nobody gets bent out of shape about it or writes letters to the editor or starts some shit with the festival organizer or hollers “go back to it if you like it so much!”
But god forbid that those brown people fly the Mexican flag at Cinco de Mayo. People lose their friggin’ minds if that happens.
I thought etiquette was that national flags should all fly at the same level, regardless of which country you are in. How would you feel if, for example, the Canadian flag flew above the U.S. flag in Canada?
Yes. If you fly the flag of a US enemy on US soil I think you must be some kind of moron. You might be one of several types of moron, or more than one, but clearly a moron.
Really, if I was in a foreign country and saw my flag being flown (for whatever reason) I would expect it to be lower than the flag of the nation I was in. Now, in other nations the etiquette may be “fly all national flags at the same level” but in the US (and I did specify I was speaking of the US in my post) it’s US flag highest.
The 50’s whitebread house on a 50’s whitebread street where my mother grew up (in the 50’s - go figure) was across the street from a family that has flown their Italian flag for as long as anyone can remember. No one has ever cared, AFAIK.
It doesn’t bother me in the least. What does annoy me is when people leave faded, torn, raggedy looking flags flying constantly. Unless, I suppose, your statement is that the nation represented by that flag is a raggedy country.
But the way I look at it, regardless of the emotion and symbolism attached, it’s a piece of cloth. You may view it as sacred, which is your right, but it’s also my right to say “whatever.” Honestly, of all the things in the world that upset me, this falls pretty low on the list.
I was recently on vacation at a fairly popular chain of lakes in Minnesota. Many of the houses flew what I assume were the flags of their ancestors home countries on their docks. It was neat to see all the Swedish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Swedish flags.
I’ve seen many different ones in my travels about the country. Mainly I appreciate the reminder that there are other countries.
I live in rural mountain southwest Virginia now. There are a few Mexican flags about, marking a tienda, a restaurant, and an immigrant household. As far as I know, these are accepted matter-of-factly by all. I’ve seen Italian, Greek, British and Irish flags for restaurants or “pubs” (the former possibly good, the latter sadly not), and an Irish flag or so for family ancestry.
Of course Confederate flags are seen somewhat more than any of the above, but those aren’t foreign.
Yeah, I expect the ones likely to attract ire would be anything with Arabic script and/or anything with pan-Arab colors (the distinctions therein being unclear). I’ve never actually seen those except on consular buildings up in Washington or as components of world-of-flags type displays.
Okay, July 12 is the Battle of the Boyne, and yes, being a dick about that is pretty much the whole point of the “Ulster” banner (white field, with crown) on that day.
April 30 is the Fall of Saigon, or Liberation Day from the Vietnamese perspective–though not the Vietnamese-American. Presumably somebody flying a Vietnamese flag in the United States this day is some sort of disaffected American (though a nostalgic mind would probably choose a VC flag).
February 18? What the hell is that? I looked it up and found the proclamation of the Treaty of Ghent, as I suppose hogarth is thinking, but I’m not quite working out how a British flag on that day would be intended or interpreted. It’s not as if they won. And Canada didn’t even exist as such.
It’s Independence Day for Gambia, so I can imagine Gambians being upset about the Union Jack being flown on that day, but I don’t think they’d worry too much about Canada.
Actually, I believe it is not “US Flag highest” but “no flag higher.” see 36 USC Section 175(c) Flying at equal posture is also acceptable. Usually though, and in any event at all times when you only have one flagpole to use, the US flag is topmost when in the US.
If I saw the Canadian flag being flown above the US flag in Canada, I would assume I was in Canada.
