Here in Maryland, you see the state flag on display a great deal. There are plenty of buildings that have it up but you can also see it hanging in front of a number of private residences as well.
What’s caught on recently though is the use of the flag on bumper stickers cut out in the shape of a number of things. Most popular would have to be the Maryland crab decal that you see on lots of vehicles. (No link provided so as not to come across as a shill. Just google “maryland crab sticker” and you’l see what I’m talking about.)
There is also a full line of clothing for those wishing to show their state pride via apparel.
As someone born, raised and set to go out in Maryland, this pleases me.
My question is how common is this in other states in the union?
Our state symbol is the Quahog, so not a lot here. Our main source of pride is being the smallest state which allows us to be used as a unit of measure for icebergs and forest fires. I can’t tell you what our state flag looks like, and I doubt many people here could. I think it has a clam and a big blue bug on it.
Living in Washington State, I’ve only seen the state flag a few times in private residences–certainly less than armed forces flags or even Canadian flags. Seems in this area, the sense of identity is much more with the Northwest as a whole. You’ll almost never hear the phrase “Washington pride” or “native to Washington”, but you hear them all the time in relation to the Northwest.
Yup. The Lone Star is waved proudly here. By all sorts of folks. Before Washington Avenue was gentrified, it housed a bunch of of used car lots. Many were decorated by long strings of banners–usually the flag of Mexico alternating with the Lone Star.
Texas has its share of Old Confederates–quite outnumbered, now, thankfully. But Lone Star chauvinism has prevented its ever being besmirched by the Losers Battle Flag…
Presumably “state pride,” expressed with flags, is more common in states with vexillologically-strong flags, as Maryland and Texas have. The endurance of the Confederate (battle) flag similarly owes something to its great design.
No. Illinois here. Not much state pride, but plenty of state embarrassment.
Yeah, you see the state flag around, but those are on government buildings, so more embarrassment.
The state flag is a big white sheet with a tiny eagle on a jumble of other stuff in the middle of this big white sheet so it’s not particularly attractive as flags go.
I hear about Seattle more often than Northwest or Washington. While in New Zealand a few years ago, it made more sense to say my wife and I were from Seattle, rather than where we were originally from (Renton or Tacoma) or where we lived (Covington). If we said we were from Washington, most assumed it was DC, not the state.
I think Louisiana was the only other state I’ve ever lived in where there was a strong current of state self-identity, and I think the reason for that motivated largely from a desire to have a non-Texas association, because there are so many Texans living in Louisiana who consider it to be a third-world colony of Texas.
The use of state flags is probbly not a reliable ineidator. Most state flags are just a blue field with a coat of arms, and not really distinctive. Maryland uses it’s unique stat flag quite a lot and the California Bear Flag is frequntly seen there.
On a more local level, plenty of Chicago pride. Even when things were going better (or less dramatically poorly) you didn’t really see Illinois-centered demonstrations of pride unless it was in the form of saying that Wisconsin/Indiana sucks.
If the appearance of the state flag is the indicator then I think my region of California is on the “hey, we’re California!” (right) side of the meter. But if the indicator is satisfaction with being a part of California then the meter pointer is way off to the left. Up here (about 230 miles N of SF) there is regular talk of breaking California into two states. North Cal (Jefferson) would be from 50 miles north of San Francisco to Oregon. South Cal is the rest.
It won’t ever happen of course but I believe the rural north part of the state has little pride in being associated with the more urban south.
Ah, I did most of my growing up in Columbus, OH, the state capitol. Once you’re off the Statehouse grounds, you’re very much more likely to see a scarlet flag with the letters “OSU” on it than the Ohio flag.
I agree. My husband is from the South Side, and not only is there pride in the city, but pride on what side of the city.
There’s enough white in the state flag to make it look like we are surrendering. Which I’m ready to do, as a retired person who gets my pension from the state.
Same here in Alabama, there is a certain amount of “Southern” pride among the unreconstructed Confederates, but most worship at the Church of Football, with Nick Saban as the lead prophet (along with those heretics at Auburn).
Same with my wife, lots of Chicago and South Side pride. For me, living in the South has certainly rekindled some Midwest pride if not exactly state specific.
We moved away to Florida, and as messed up as Illinois is, we’re going to move back at retirement in a year or so. The health care options in-state are far superior to the ones that allow you to live anywhere; we’re still working and are about to go broke with the co-pays and deductibles.
I’m here in Pittsburgh, where city pride is practically in our blood. State, not so much. (Especially when you consider our rivalry with Filth-er, Philadephia.)
Considering our contentious importance in presidential politics, Ohioans have more state ambivalence than pride. And our flag? Hell, it’s not even a rectangle.
I live in the SF Bay area in CA, and I’d say there is more “Bay Area Pride” than CA pride. But then, we’re a huge state, and there are more people in the Bay Area alone (7.6M) than in most other states. We rank between VA (12th) and WA (13) in population.
That is not to say there isn’t any CA pride, but I’d rank it below pride toward the region.
State, not so much. (Especially when you consider our rivalry with Filth-er, Philadephia.)