Now that you mention the only time I’ve seen a city flag is the Chicago flag–in downtown Seattle (it was at some “Chicago style hot dogs” food cart.
Don’t forget Skinner Texas-Shaped Pasta! Or HEB’s Texas-Shaped corn chips…
I’ve lived in three states as an adult – Texas, New Mexico and Hawaii. New Mexico has a fair degree of state pride, and it is a pretty neat place. Hawaii has mucho state pride, that’s for sure, and justifiably so. And Texas? Lord have mercy, they have no reason for much pride at all, and so overcompensate for it in a burlesquely comical manner.
Not a lot, I don’t think, here in Arkansas, unless you count sports stuff. At least, not in my part of it.
With a few exceptions like Texas, my experience suggests that most state pride declarations motivate from negative feelings about a more powerful or influential neighboring state. For example, Wisconsin people are not necessarily proud, and can easily (and increasingly) find things to bitch about in Wisconsin, but unanimous in their hatred of FIBs (fucking Illinois bastards). Michigan people do not have all that much pride in Michigan, but regard Ohio as a redneck southern state. Going to Toledo brings “Deliverance” to mind.
I’ve lived in Georgia, Tennessee, and Texas, and have spent multiple months in Florida, Illinois, New York, California, and they all have their form of state pride.
However, in its defense, Texas is the only one I think who has earned it. It’s a great place to live - cheap, comfortable, of historical importance, great people, vibrant cultures, an economy that just chugs along. I can’t imagine leaving here now that I’ve arrived.
(I will link to this post in future “things you say that other’s find crazy” threads. 
)
I’m originally from Texas, and now live in Connecticut. (The Navy assigned me to the submarine base in Groton years ago, and I ended up settling down here more or less permanently.)
What a difference! People seem to spend most of their time here in Connecticut complaining about high taxes and cold weather/snow, and how they plan to move or at least retire somewhere else (like Florida). It seems like most people stay here primarily because of family.
On the other hand, both spring and fall are great and last for several months here in Connecticut. You can actually open all of the windows in the house and enjoy the fresh air. (Spring and fall in Texas are usually just skipped, with summer typically lasting for 9 months of the year or longer.) Also, there’s lots of hiking trails in the mountains here in New England, along with skiing in the winter.
But on the third (gripping) hand, the Mexican food here in Connecticut leaves a lot to be desired.
Back to the main point. I don’t often hear many people taking about how proud they are to be from Connecticut. They do feel superior to those living in neighboring states, though (especially Rhode Island).
When I lived in Virginia, I didn’t see the state flag much. Probably something to do with obscenity laws.
I think I live in Kansas.
I agree that Californians will tend to show more regional pride when at home than in the state as a whole. Or even more localized. I’m from Santa Barbara, where people will say completely earnestly “this is the best place in the world!” and everyone will nod like it’s an obvious fact. Then they’ll go back to complaining about how expensive it’s gotten. If there are good things outside our strip of coast, we usually expect them to come to us.
I think identification with Southern California (as opposed to our official region, the Central Coast) has grown in recent years. I don’t see “Keep L.A. 100 Miles Away!” stickers anymore.
The other side of the coin (or state): I’m from Philadelphia and Pittsburgh might as well be another country.
When I was at a scientific conference with a French Canadian from Quebec, he asked whether I felt anything from being in my home state, I was astonished by the question. Why would I?
French Canadians obviously feel much more attachment to Quebec than to Canada. But even other Canadians are much more attached to their province than typical Americans to their state (except maybe southerners). A friend, who is from Toronto, once introduced me as being from Pennsylvania, which surprised me. I might expect to be introduced as American or Philadelphian, but not as a Pennsylvanian.
I read the most misspelled word in my state is Massachusetts today, that doesn’t imply much state pride. Plenty of Boston pride though, so much so it overflows 30 miles from the city, with people from other cities proclaimin thier Boston pride.
Well, that’s because Phlly is on the East Coast (nominally) and Pittsburg is in the Midwest!
Anecdotally, I notice that I often get a significantly better reaction abroad when I say I’m from California than when I say I’m from the U.S.
That’s mostly easterners who can’t pronounce it. We also have a lot of antipathy for Californians who usually can. But the Californian thing is mostly about real estate. If they aren’t buying a house here, no one cares much about them.
Nowadays it seems to be more of the rest of the state vs Portland (I put it that way because Portlanders are mostly oblivious to it.)
About the flag thing, Oregon has what’s probably the worst flag of any of the 50 states. I hardly ever see it anywhere.
In Georgia, we tend to form our tribal affiliations around college football (Go Dawgs! Roll Tide! War Eagle! Whatever bestial grunt Florida fans slobber out at each other!). The only time we really seem to show any statriotism is when we’re making fun of Alabama or hatin’ on Florida.
Of course, I’m in Atlanta, and Atlantans have an ambivalent relationship with the rest of Georgia. We say we are in the South but not of the South. It’s not true, Atlanta is a very Southern city; but it’s much more Upper South rather than Deep South. Culturally, we’re more akin to Charlotte or Raleigh than to Charleston or New Orleans.
So when you see someone flying the Georgia flag, there’s usually a subtext. They’ll either fly the 1956 flag with the Confederate battle flag emblem - which means: “Yew kind take mah racist symbol when yuh pry it outta mah cold, daid hands.” - or they’ll fly the new flag (“We’re not like those rednecks ovuh there. We drink merlot and listen to NPR. Don’t hate us, black people!”)
Pretty much what I came here to post. I’ve lived in Atlanta for 25 years now, so over half my adult life.
Notice what I said there? I live in Atlanta. That’s how I express it 99% of the time. I can’t recall ever saying “I’m from Georgia.”
There is Atlanta, and then there is the rest of Georgia. Two completely different things.
In central Ohio (outside of government offices) the state flag is a rarity. However, you do see this t-shirt a lot.
It’s probably the only flag in the world that shows man-boob.
Here in Georgia there seems to be more regional pride than state pride, but next door in South Carolina the state symbol is on EVERYTHING.
Jesus. Obviously we lived in two different Texases in some sort of parallel-universe situation.