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.
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)
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 😏 🙄
German here. No, we don’t do that here. (Exceptions: Football World Cup and weird dudes on camp sites or allotment gardens. Usually a sign to avoid the area.) Interestingly, the fascists don’t show the German flag, but the one from the Germany before the current one…
Whats the matter with camping sites? Saw that too
I … have no idea. Really.
Australia: Very unusual. I’ll see someone doing it maybe once a month and always think “fucking weirdos”. It’s more common to see Aboriginal flags, but still uncommon
It’s more common to see bogans using it as part or their beach or BBQ attire (eg, maybe an Australian flag stubby cooler)
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.
In Germany its pretty much only Nazis, Rightwing people and the Bundeswehr, so also often right wing people
I am from Germany and no one is raising a flag. Except he is a Nazi. Or it is soccer World Championship.
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.
It’s not perceived as sad because it’s just something most people have no desire to do. Flags just aren’t a super common decoration you see outside of store advertisements and official government buildings. “I should install a flag pole on my property” is already a rare thought in most places and a lot of people then rather put a flag about something that is special to them on there. In line with that thought, being German in Germany obviously isn’t that special, so it’s usually not your choice of “displaying something that is special to me” unless you have a right-wing mindset. You’ll more often see football teams, maybe music bands and the more rare political issue here and there, like “stop nuclear power plants”.
Australian here. Outside of official government uses, it’s generally a sign that someone is a racist fuckwit.
Northern Germany here. The German flag is usually only flown at government or other public buildings or, as another commenter said, when there’s a special occasion such as an international football match.
Something a bit more common up here seems to be flying the state flag (blue, white and red), which can be seen in private gardens or on some residential buildings.
Austria: not often and I like that. Not a fan of nationalism, so the less visible this is in my life the better. I see flags IRL mainly on government functions and when right wingers parade around, maybe also near football matches, that‘s about it.
I‘d like to think the history with Nazis made it less popular, but the actual amount of far-right voters makes me think I might just live in a happy little bubble and I’d be shocked if I looked into people‘s cellars.
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.
Pretty funny that coming from a Norwegian because they still have the flag out many places in my opinion :)
It’s actually one of the things that stuck out the most after I had moved there.
Especially at “hytter” (vacation cabins) I think the majority has a flag out.
Same for national day, you’ll see a bunch of flags.Compare that to Belgium, where I’m from. Even on national day it’s a rare sight to see a flag.
And it’s only very fanatic people that will actually wave it around on the street.The moment you’ll see most flags out is probably during the world cup.
Not really. Vacation cabins are for vacation with Norwegians not acting like Norwegians, i.e. socializing with neighbors and having the flag up indicating their precense. More often than not, the flag is used as a celebration of either a national holiday or the birthday of someone in the household. Cabin, hiking and boat culture are weird albeit common outliers of Norwegian culture.
My country is a former colony of an imperial power so it’s flown all the time to reinforce our feeling of sovereignty
Are you in the US? 😁
no
What about now?
In Spain it’s extremely common to hang the flag on your balcony, especially since the pandemic. It’s also quite common to see younger people wearing bracelets of the spanish flag. I’m not really a fan of it but most people don’t do it for political reasons, it’s just nornalized, so I can’t really blame them.
Not in the Basque Country, and not in Catalonia, or Valencia, or…
Depending on the province, showing up with the Spanish flag can get you at least a keyed car, and at most a trip to the ER.
It is common here in Valencia region to see both the Spanish and Valencian flags. In Catalonia it is common to see their flag, especially in Barcelona.
I can’t speak for Basque and I’m only using my own observations & opinions.In the US I would most often be a sticker on the bumper/back of the car wirh the US then second most common would be country of origin (i assume) or confederate flag. Outside of the deep south you would mainly see US flags flying from houses, espartero 9/11.
During the 4th of July week(end) there are groups that set up placing small flags in lawns …it’s very interesting.
It’s actually become very common for people to mount flags in the bed of their truck or to the back of their car. Was relatively rare until Trump was elected President, then it became much more common. The most common is at/on houses. If a house has a flag pole of some kind, it’s almost always the US flag. If they have more than one, it’s usually followed by one of: military branch they or family serve(d) in, favorite sports team, or political statement (pride flag or Trump 2024 being most common in my part of the country).
But you are right about the 4th of July. US flags are plastered everywhere and people start to look at you weirdly if you don’t have one displayed somewhere. Part of the reason I’m glad I don’t really have neighbors now.
Canada: VERY common and considered standard practice, we like to make fun of the Americans for being obsessed with their flag but overall we’re just as bad. It’s also flown by Nazis as often as the American flag is.
In the states the houses with American flags out front are the most likely to shoot you for knocking on the door. The only way to cancel the uncertainty is with an LGBTQ+ flag or the rainbow american flag.
I had a professor who liked flying flags and got the cops called on him for flying the flag of the USSR. Dude just liked the design.
Flying Canadian flags is generally a more subtle sign that someone is like that. Usually the people that do are polite and not overtly assholish, just avoid the following topics with them:
- Immigration
- Indigenous rights
- China
- Russia
- India (Canada has a huge Indian diaspora and sadly they experience quite a bit of hate and racism)
- Islam (non-Christian religions in general)
They will still be super polite while being racist. Canadians seem to have mastered that.
Interesting thing is that racist Canadians are often still fairly LGBTQ+ supportive, those are generally seen as separate issues in Canada, which is better than nothing I guess? The way that is counteracted like in your example is if they fly the Canadian flag with another country’s flag, immigrant families do that a lot and they are usually genuinely pleasent and nice people.
