Hey! That’s insulting to people like me that fly the flag for my own reasons, none of which encapsulate your thinly veiled attempt to equate flying the flag with Nazism.
It’s becoming harder and harder to believe that you actually served in our armed forces with an open mind.
I don’t, but then I salute the flag every morning at reville :).
Amun Ra
Current Army medic.
I’m very happy to report that within my 5 years of service, I never had to call for you.
Keep on though…somebody needs your services…
I mean no disrespect (and am genuinely curious)… how can you be proud of something that you had no control over? Like the above poster said, it is like being proud of being white or male or having blue eyes.
Now if you had become American, I think that is different.
“Nazism?” I didn’t equate anything to Nazism.
I was a lot younger and more idealistic when I was in the Navy. I even voted for Reagan when I was in. I grew up.
For me, flying the flag is a statement. And that statement is: we’re here, and we’re not going anywhere.
The current standard (which does not have the force of law) says you can fly a flag at night and in the rain if you have a light on it. To give you an idea how much power the flag protocol has, consider that an item of clothing made of a flag is improper. All those flag shirts, string bikinis, and Kid Rock’s serape at the Super Bowl are improper.
I fly the flag of my favorite team, when they win. I fly the flag of my country, when my country does something smart. On holidays, I fly the “Betsy Ross” model, with 13 stars in a circle.
Every flag that was ever a US flag is a legal US flag today. They are all still available. If you want the flag John Wayne flew in some western movie, there is an American company that makes it.
We put our flag out for holidays and whenever we feel like it. I think I’ll do it tomorrow if it isn’t raining.
Ever been to Denmark (or Sweden)? Flags, flags everywhere. In Denmark, they go on Christmas trees and birthday cakes and summer days. Flags are nice and pleasant and cheery, and I like flags. They make me feel happy.
If everyone gives up the perfectly nice custom of flying the flag because “only jinogists and crazy nutballs fly the flag,” then it will be true. I do not choose to allow that to happen.
Your average Danish Christmas tree looks like this.
Your average Danish wedding cake (it’s called kransekage, wreath cake, and is mostly almond paste, yum).
Your average Danish birthday cake, a lagkage or layer cake with lots of whipped cream.
Is anyone seriously going to argue that the Danish people are all nationalist nutballs?
As a flag displayer, I will take a crack at this one. If you choose, you can be proud about all sorts of things. Of course, the most common thing is to be proud of something you have accomplished, but you can also be proud of something you simply have purchased (the latest super gadgety smartphone- even if a lot of people can buy one if they wanted) You can be proud of the success of your local sports team, even if you had nothing to do with their recent championship.
I am of Mexican heritage and I am proud of it, even if it was something I was born into. Even though I had no control of it, it is part of who I am. I gain a great deal of satisfaction from my heritage and the customs, food, music, etc associated with it. I did not invent the taco and I don’t sing but I feel a twinge of pride when I hear a non hispanic person say how much they love Mexican food or enjoy listening to music in Spanish. I am not ashamed (opposite of proud?) of my dark skin, I am proud of it.
Likewise, I was born in the United States. I am a US citizen and have lived in the US and have had both common and unique US experiences. It is part of who I am, part of my identity. I don’t think that it is strange to feel a sort of pride in where I came from, or the culture I am participating in. It is part of me, I can certainly be proud of myself if I choose.
Not all flag displayers are arm band wearing bigoted nationalist. I, for one, am just grateful.
There’s nothing wrong in being proud of who you are. If being a citizen of a couintry is part of your self-definition, there’s nothing wrong with that, either.
We put out red, white and blue bunting for the 4th of July. There’s also a Kentucky state flag we don’t display, though Mrs. J. used it once to rout a rabbit that had gotten into the garden.
I’d like to display one of those “don’t tread on me” flags with the snake, maybe around tax time and for 9/11. I used one on my website after 9/11.
There was an op-ed type column during the Vietnam War about a woman who flew the American flag at her home for Memorial Day and the 4th. Her neighbor who was a war hawk congratulated her on what he thought was her gung-ho military spirit. Another neighbor castigated her for standing for escalation of the war. Neither label fit.
It’s amazing what assumptions people will make out of a traditional patriotic practice.
Thank you dangermom for putting this so clearly and concisely.
Best argument ever. Really.
We have a Norwegian flag that goes out on May 8, May 17, and June 7. Those are, respectively, VE Day, Constitution Day, and the anniversary of the dissolution of the union with Sweden. Many of our neighbors put theirs up on a number of other days, including the royals’ birthdays and some religious holidays, but we choose not to participate.
We have an American flag which I keep meaning to get a pole for, but it keeps slipping down the priority list. I would fly it on July 4 if we were home, which we often aren’t, which explains how it keeps slipping on the priority list I suppose.
I work at a kindergarten, which puts out the flag on the kids’ birthdays.
No, I don’t. I don’t want confused people thinking my house is a polling place.
I have two small stick-in-the-ground flags that go out on either side of my driveway on Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day. I shouuld do it for Veterans Day, but that one always surprises me when it come up, and I am working.
There is a flagpole on property. We used to fly an American Flag and an OSU Buckeyes Flag under it or just by itself. But the property has changed hands and the new owner doesn’t fly flags for religious reasons. Another neighbor sometimes flies a Confederate flag… he’s a great guy, just a Southern patriot and I think a bit homesick. Nothing nefarious, and I am not offended by either’s choice. I had a tiny flag decal in my car’s side window, but somebody took the liberty of ripping it in pieces off my window… makes me laugh thinking of the fucker defacing and desecrating the flag as he broke into my car doing it… oh, the irony. Well, that’s the land of the free and home of the brave for ya… I love my country.
The Confederate flag is, by definition, anti-American. I don’t know what a “Southern patriot” is. The south isn’t a country.
As far as I know, such a form of protest is still legal.
