Are other countries as nationalistic/"patriotic" as the US?
Are other countries as nationalistic/"patriotic" as the US?
Do people in France have flags on their cars? Do they sell clothing with the flag for Zimbabwe everywhere? Do people dress as their country's mascot for every day events?
Here in the Netherlands it's definitely not as crazy as in the US. People will fly the flag on national celebration days or on remembrance day. And during international soccer tournaments the country will turn orange. But the only flags I see on cars are upside-down ones from angry farmers protesting against environmental regulations and from nutjobs who still think that COVID vaccines contain microchips.
People do tend to fly provincial flags and municipality flags sometimes tho. Especially in the best province, Fryslân (I'm not biased at all).
None of the Western ones. Probably not Zimbabwe either, although I could be wrong about that. Africans are usually aware of how much development is ahead of them.
China is a lot like America in other ways, so it wouldn't surprise me if they do that stuff, and North Korea is obviously rabidly nationalistic in it's own way.
Canadian flags in unnecessary places are becoming more common, but that's basically us aping you, because we get all your media and define our whole identity as a contrast to America.
Also, why does nobody here know that their mindless nationalism is weird? I've seen military guys stop traffic to stop their cars in the middle of the road and stand with their hand over their heart towards the nearest flag when they play the trumpets at the end of the work day. ( on a military base) But seriously, why would you stop rush hour traffic to virtue signal your worship of an inanimate object. Those people should not be allowed to use firearms. There is seriously something wrong with that. My coworkers did the same thing, but not while they were driving. It's beyond bizarre.
You're supposed to stop your car for colors. You don't necessarily need to get out, but hence the rush to get there and inside before colors.
Yea, and gladiators were "supposed to" die for the glory of Rome. When are people going to get past pomp and circumstance? It's fucking pathetic.
No.
I live in Denmark but used to live in the US. I see a LOT of the Danish flag around (Dannebrog 🇩🇰) but it's a lot less nationalistic. The level of "I love my country" is a bit weird but it's the "it's the best country and all others suck and wish they were us" that's incomprehensible.
I think David Cross said something like this:
If you're in Europe and someone tells you how your country sucks and isn't free, you know they're American
Only when there are modern overpaid gladiators from different countries try to kick a plastic ball into the oponents net.
A.k.a. "Football World cup" and "Football Europa cup".
OK, also when there are olympics.
And there are those eternal yesterdays that again would like to fly a red flag, with a white dot and a black swastica... those are still a growing minority. Lets hope ot stays that way.
Do you remember the time Marco Rubio repeated the same thing twice during a presidential debate ? His speech included calling the US "the greatest nation in the history of the world" but no one minded that.
In most countries you would be ridiculed for saying something like that, but from what I understand Americans are taught that their country is the best in basically everything and they are very lucky to be born there because every other place is worse off.
The brainwashing is strong, yes.
No, we have broken off the Soviet union.
No, I was from Soviet Union
I think I misphrased my comment I meant to say that we are no longer in a dictatorship, so we do not have such propaganda
The most "I love my country" thing i have seen was someone dying their hair to represent the country flag
I have seen more people in my country wear the USA flag than my countries flag
US has alot of propaganda through various means, but its greatest affect is on conservatives, they are much easier to convince. copaganda, military propaganda, performative politics for the military.
In Spain yes. We call them "patriotas de la pulserita" because they always have wristbands with the spanish flag.
We don't have flags on poles, put people put the spanish flags on the balconies.
No.
Americans don't realise how strange this hyperpatriotism is.
From the outside, "pledging allegiance to the flag" is cult behaviour; it's seen as brainwashing.
I visited LA last year and you almost cannot exist in any space anywhere in the city without having at least one american flag visible. Often there are dozens of flags visible from any given sightline. This is not usual. Most countries will fly a flag over important buildings, or maybe in any given city there will be a few national flags in key locations. If the city has a good flag design, maybe the city flag is displayed frequently, such as in Amsterdam.
But outside America, people don't have this need to express how much they love their country. In America it looks like a competition as to who can adore their country the most. That's really not healthy citizenship as imo it discourages criticism.
Canadians responded to the American presidential threat by throwing flags up everywhere and let me tell you, that shit does not sit right with me.
I prefer to support my country in a less colonial way, personally.
So I just took a small sample (outside of major business districts) with Google maps street view dropping random pins in L.A. and searching for American flags. 0/3.
Same with Paris. 0/3.
I guess I got lucky? People can do their own samples and will likely see the inverse of my results.
Yeah, the pledge of allegiance is kinda stupid and has been cut from most schools at the start of the day. (That is likely regional though.) It's still kinda weird that sports events still leverage national anthems too.
Many people here see hyperpatriotism as kinda weird and is more closely associated with (the bad kind) of nationalism.
To answer all questions like this, it depends on where you go. Some places are worse than others. Culturally important cities tend to be much more 'murica than others.
Now do the same with Barcelona, just tried it and got at least one Catalonia flag, as I was sure I would since there are lots of people with flags in their balconies here. Although I don't think people are the "bad" kind of nationalist here, it's more of an independence feeling.
My sample was not random because I went to populated areas where people/tourists are likely to go. I wasn't saying it's literally true that you cannot go anywhere without flags. But it was striking to both me and the person I was there with the sheer number of flags that seemed to be everywhere. We joked that there must be an unspoken rule that a business without a flag would be snubbed and seen as as an enemy of the state.
I'm sure random google maps locations don't necessarily have flags, but if you visit you can't deny the overwhelming prevalence of them in e.g. malls/high streets/the beach/in restaurants/etc.
In public spaces and every day life no.
Sports yes.
Pledging allegiance to the flag in school? That is absurd.
North Korea is.
Turkmenistan has some amazing propaganda and surprisingly, interesting music on the propaganda channels. Never would want to go there, though.
The fuzzy hat horse sing-along segment goes surprisingly hard? 16:31, pre-stamped:
Every country has their own brand and degree of nationalism. For example, in Europe, you won't commonly see the national flag displayed in a private context in countries like France or Germany, but it's very common as a decoration in Switzerland and Denmark. Doesn't mean I'd really compare the Danes or Swiss to American nationalists though. I think what makes US-brand nationalism a special kind is the intense superiority complex, the feeling that they're the greatest country on earth and everyone else doesn't matter. No Swiss nationalist would think that their country could thrive without at least some degree of cooperation with other countries.
Maybe other large-population countries like China and India might be more similar. When I went to high school in China as an exchange student, they had a flag-raising ceremony once a week where the national anthem was played. But I guess that's still tame compared to having the pledge of allegiance every day.
Yup, seeing a french flag in a private context feels off, you immediately get the sense that whoever put it up has very intense feelings about the Motherland/Fatherland.
I think what makes US-brand nationalism a special kind is the intense superiority complex, the feeling that they're the greatest country on earth and everyone else doesn't matter.
You're spot on, to the extent that there is a concept describing exactly this: American Exceptionalism.
The Swiss might be a bad example. They are easily the craziest, most nationalistic people in Europe. I've dealt a lot with Swiss from all kinds of backgrounds over several years, and with foreigners living and working in Switzerland, and I can confidently say that I have never experienced anything comparable to how normal and ingrained xenophobia and an endless vicious hate for foreigners are in Swiss culture. The average Swiss seems to despise foreigners (who make about 50% of the workforce, btw) and views themselves and their country as superior to anything that might exist in the universe. This is not only a rural problem, it is common in several cities as well, perhaps most prominently in Lucerne. Their xenophobia has also been institutionalised with the Swiss police of several cantons enjoying the harassment of foreigners as their favourite pastime.
Not to down talk your experience, politically we definitely have a huge problem with the extreme right wing party passing laws that are extremely problematic. And I would probably also agree that the swiss are possibly more xenophobic than neighbouring countries, especually when it comes to things like aquiring citicenship which is quite frankly insane. One thing I have also heard mentioned from expats though is the concept of the "swiss stare". Basically that we swiss tend to quite directly stare at strangers when they get on a train etc. Being socialized in Switzerland we probably don't notice that we even do it but to foreigners it could possibly feel menacing or hostile. Another thing, Lucerne is very touristy to the point of over tourism and that will create tension anywhere not just in Switzerland, see the whole " tourists go home" movement in spain etc..
Don't confuse patriotism with nationalism. Patriotism is love for one's homeland, nationalism is a delusion of blood and soil.
Although the former seems like it will inevitably slide into the latter.
We should aspire to be a good person in general first, and then decide if our nation is awesome or "we're the baddies" after that.
Yeah, I'm a patriot, but I hate nationalists with a passion.
Hard no. I've been to 25ish countries (I've lost count), and US is the only country I've been to with so many flags and rituals around the state and its government.
- National anthem before every sportsball game.
- Pledge of allegiance.
- Flags every where every day.
- "Thank you for your service".
- Picture of President in any building that serves a government function (at least the ones I've been to... Not that many, tbh).
- Naming anything and everything after presidents and statesmen
I think Americans should go answer that for themselves. As an exercise.
Most Americans can't read. The rest you lost at 'exercise'
I should be offended, but this is just too damn funny.
Generalize much?
I guess North Korea wins this contest. Then Singapore. Usa comes later...
Like mentioned in another comment there is a difference between patriotism and nationalism.
I would add to that there is a difference between loving one's country and being a fetishist of its flag or its national anthem.
You will find flags in all countries. The question is more what proportion of the population is obsessed with them?
I'm French and I can tell you that beside the far-right, who loves waving flags and singing the first few lines of the Marseillaise (most of them, like the rest of the population probably have never taken the pain to read the entire song, even less so to memorize it, too much of a hassle). For the most part, you will find flags on public buildings and offices. Seldom on private home/office.
Also, it's visible during special celebrations, say, each year for the 14th of July (France's birthday) some streets and stores will be decorated and, at least where I live (Paris), public transit will also have a little flag waving in the wind.
Last but not least, you will mostly see the French flags waved, this time en masse, during sport events. People will also proudly wear french colors on their clothing and on their face, or on their head (I fucking love this stupid hat, but Io don't own one). But then you will also see the other countries flags being waved by their own supporters, and most of the time they don't end-up killing one another ;)
Like I said, people barely know more than the first few lines of our national anthem, kids are not required to swear allegiance to the flag either at school. Some people are discussing about bringing that back but I'd rather see them bring back some traditional reading and math lessons, like in the 'good old days'... when kids actually were taught something useful. Because we've been suffering from the same issue you have with your US school system: it's falling apart, badly. Our kids aren't taught much if anything. More and more of them can barely read or write, and they can't do simple math. Let's not mention getting any notion of civic education, history, philosophy (which would all help make a more informed & better-equipped citizen, which is not that silly in any country that is supposed to be a democracy).
That being said, even without a flag, we're many to love our country, despite all its flaws, even those of us who criticize it vehemently. We just don't need to show that by waving some cheap piece of fabric, or glue a sticker on a some car.
I have bookshelves filled with books on French (and European) politics, history and philosophy. Sure those are not flags I can wave on the street or glue on my car to show what a true patriot I am but, imho, their non flashy content represent France (and the many other EU countries) a little better than any cheap piece of fabric put on a mast.
That being said, I have a pair of socks with a french flag on them. Could that count a patriotism? ;)
Yes! Every country has its own brand of nationalism. It just so happens that different country have different flavors of it.
The US is a big country and it depends on where you are. Usually, expression of patriotism is directly correlated to the number of dualies found in that region.
Anywhere you go, in any country, you are going to find a subset of rabid nationalists.
In my experience, Canadians living in the US are more prone to express their own patriotism by hanging American and Canadian flags. (That is just my experience and also shouldn't be considered a constant.)
This reeks of bias so it's probably of interest: https://typingadventure.com/vive-la-france/
Definitely depends where you are. Lots of big cities, regions, or states will tend to identify as from those places first. Here in Chicago people generally identify as Chicagoan and you'll see many more Chicago flags than American flags. But that's also in part because our flag is the best flag ever.
For anyone who (like me) wanted to know what the Chicago flag looks like:
Pretty cool 👍
Chicago's flag is a masterwork.
My city did a redesign about five years ago. Our flag was in a D to F tier flag ranking. After the redesign it's much better, but still feels like a logo more then a flag. At least they got rid of the written slogan, though!
Props to Chicago. Put that flag on everything.
I'm hoping Milwaukee adopts of the People's flag of Milwaukee soon. That's a serious banger too.
Britain (not the UK as a whole) has their moments, but its nowhere near the same intensity as the US
No, I have never seen that anywhere. That being said I have not visited the US nor most of the other countries. I am a french citizen and although I have witnessed the odd little french flag hung up in gardens (very uncommon, but I've seen it) the prevailing sentiment in France seems to be a certain pride in gastronomy, sports and sometimes sciences, and a general tendency to criticize most governments. Rightly so, I think.
I’m American but I’ve travelled a lot and the only place I can remember seeing anything close to as many flags was Greece. And it wasn’t that close. Americans are absurd about flags. Plus, the Greek flag is aesthetically lovely and the American flag might be bottom 5 on pure design principles.
No one get offended. I’m not insulting my own country’s flag. I’m just saying, 50 fucking stars and 13 stripes is a design nightmare. The Greek flag is simple and nice looking in lots of contexts. This isn’t a comment about honoring the flag. It’s a comment about vexillology and design.
Nope. OK, maybe NK, if you insist. And of they can afford a flag.
Americans are weird with their odd interpretation of "patriotism". They pledge allegience to flag and constitution as kids, and trample both with their feet once they are adults.
Start watching other countries sports. Especially Formula One. Then you will see the flags and hear the anthems. At this point my husband has the British and Dutch anthems memorized