Do you get angry/annoyed when people disrespect your country's flag?

[C95J]

I personally don't care one bit if someone disrespects my country or flag (England) I just see it as a place where I live, not as somewhere more important, or sacred as everywhere else. It is simply just the place where I live, nothing more.

I must admit it gets more personal when someone insults my hometown or football team, because they are a bit more well known to me, I have lived in my town all my life, and I never miss a home game if I can (just got back from one in fact, 2-0!).

 

[Red Stray]

when I see a badly worn or tattered flag being flown, either from a flag pole or from a home/car/whatever.

In answer to the question - No. I think pride in something so simplistic is scary. I'd rather people worry about the state of their local schools (or their crime rate or whatever, something real) than the state of their neighbourhood's patriotic displays.

Americans - you DO know that it's pretty much only you guys who stick your flag everywhere, all the time, right? Most other western countries don't have so many people flying the colours 24/7.
But you guys... it's everywhere... on your cars, outside your houses, on the titles and backgrounds of your tv shows and news programs... at those weird school pep rallies that TV has me believe you attend (also, do you know that not one british school kid would ever be seen dead at something called a 'pep rally'?)

To compare - in Britain the only people you'll see flying the Union Jack are football fans (at matches) and nationalist/sort-of-fascist political parties. If it isn't up a flag pole on a castle or at a football match then displaying the Union Jack is almost synonymous with far-right politics.

There's no better way to sum it up than the words of Ambrose Bierce,
'Patriotism is the first refuge of the scoundrel'.

 

[Zerazar]

It's a piece of cloth. I generally tend to not give a damn about pieces of cloth not owned and cherished by me or someone close to me.
I thought it was humorous when Danish flags were bought to be burned in the middle east during all that fuss about the drawings.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

A little bit, but just because it's careless and lazy. "I'm for lovin' 'Merica!!" And then run a tattered dirty craptacular flag.

 

[TheMagicLemur]

If it isn't up a flag pole on a castle or at a football match then displaying the Union Jack is almost synonymous with far-right politics.

There's no better way to sum it up than the words of Ambrose Bierce,
'Patriotism is the first refuge of the scoundrel'.

Here in America, far-right politics are considered "slightly conservative".

 

[Thedutchjelle]

They could burn the Dutch flag right in front of me without me caring. It's only seen at govermental buildings and during Football matches (and when you celebrate your birthday.. It's a tradition here to fly the Dutch flag during your birthday.)

I don't hate my country, but I'm not going into rage-mode because a piece of cloth was burned. Half of Europe has the same pattern anyway - Red, White, Blue.

 

[Fangface74]

Patriotism is stupid, it's fanaticism directed towards a land mass!

Your country is where your parents 'did' each other, then birthed & raised you....nothing more.

To the OP and like-minded; grow up! before your arteries harden from pointless stress.

 

[GundamSentinel]

No, they can wipe their arse with it as far as I'm concerned. I'm not one for needless symbolism. Maybe being Dutch has something to do with it, patriotic but scornful of any acts of patriotism.

 

[Vivi22]

[Edit] Example: My friend is from 'Merica. I was joking around with some people about how boring the States flag is. She just flipped the fuck out, yelling at me to show some respect for the Stars and Stripes. Then she yelled at me for disrespecting the Canadian flag, saying, "A flag is your country, If your flag breaks your country breaks."

I find this view unacceptable. A country should not be seen by it's symbol, but by it's actions.

This is the sort of stuff that really bothers me and why I could care less about any flag. Mind you, I find a blind sense of nationalism and patriotism to be at best a little ridiculous and at worst outright dangerous, so the idea of tying such feelings to a piece of cloth is absurd to me.

If your country is worthy of my respect, it will demonstrate it through it's actions and I will provide the level of respect I deem appropriate to your citizens and your government until either does things to warrant receiving less or no respect from me. But I will never show deference to an anthem or a flag. These are mere words and objects, and do not always reflect the true nature of the country behind them.

 

[OutsiderEX]

Those are different though; they're not flags, they're the King's/Queen's Colours (I presume you're talking about the 'flags' carried into battle) given to a regiment by the Monarch. They represent the Regiment and the trust given to it by the Monarch, they also are usually embellished with Battle Honours; famous campaigns or battles in which the regiment has served. There are also Regimental Colours which represent the regiment itself.

Now these are a big deal and back when King's/Regimental Colours were brought into action, it was considered a major dishonour to lose either of the colours, but especially the King's/Queen's colours. This practice was common; Frederick the Great placed a regiment that had recently lost his colours in the most dangerous place of the line in a battle once so that the unit could atone for it's actions.

 

[Dr Snakeman]

I won't lie, people dissing the American flag is a bit... irksome.

But really, it just doesn't matter that much. There are very few things that I take seriously, and some hippie burning a piece of cloth in a fit of impotent rage is not one of them.

You can do what you like, as long as I still get to make fun of you.

 

[Agarth]

America's flag gets disrespected enough that I don't care anymore. And besides, we did nuke Japan didn't we? We deserve to be disrespected for that.

 

[Mcmuffin]

I kinda do. In Germany flag flying is kind of taboo but im one of the people that tends to do so as i love my country, i dont believe history will repeat itself if we take care to remember what happened. but since flag flying happens so rarely here i get upset if its a broken so to speak flag.

 

[Bento Box]

Speaking as an US citizen...

It doesn't upset me to see people disrespect the flag if they're doing on purpose. That's free speech, and while I can disagree with their sentiment, and think they're assholes, my disagreement is likely with their grander message, than with some silly cheap flag that they paid for, just to wreck.

What upsets me is people who think they are respecting the flag, but have no fucking idea what that means.

If some religious twat is stomping on the US flag and burning it -- well, they're doing it wrong. Yeah, the stomping was disrespectful, but then you burned it, asshole. That's what you-re -supposed- to do if the flag becomes tainted. Way to go, you accidentally honored the flag. Go you. If in your country it is a massive sign of disrespect to fix me a grilled cheese sandwich, and then you come over here and fix me a grilled cheese sandwich? I won't be insulted. I'll be like, "fuck yeah, grilled cheese," and I'll om-nom that fucker right up.

There are lots of people, though, who -think- they're honoring the flag, when really they're also doing it all kinds of wrong. There are lots and lots of very specific rules about how to display the flag -- illumination, orientation, time of day, state of weather, the condition of the flag itself -- and there are instructions on what to do if you slip up on any of those (namely: burn it). Most people don't know about as much about those rules, as they do about the US Bill of Rights, which is to say, 'dick.' I see tattered, darkened, dirty, wet and otherwise dishonored flags all over the place, and where you'll find them most, is in the ironically hyper-patriotic bible belt (ironic because they're doing it wrong, and ironic because of their duelling allegiances, but that's another rant for another time). Bring up the fact that they're dissing on the flag, and get into the argument of your life, which brings me to my ultimate point.

I'm not especially patriotic, by the way. This country is full of problems (although most of them stem from misapplication/misunderstanding/simple fucking rejection of constitutional law), and certainly isn't intrinsically 'better' than any other. My problem isn't so much with the symbol or how it's treated; the flag isn't that important to me.

I just fucking hate stupid people.

 

[kypsilon]

I disagree with you on that one, it seems more evident that they just don't place the same value in the same symbols that you do. I'd rather see people burn a flag over a live person for example.

 

[TheMagicLemur]

I think they took down my post. But I think I see your point. But symbolism is a great and powerful thing that people don't seem to give value to to. There was a time when riddling was what marked how intelligent you are. And I know that the flag is absolutely a symbol for it's country. People who say that to them it's nothing more than cloth feel like morons to me. And those who don't seem to want to show respect to the flag feel like someone who just wants to be cynical.

I think it's dangerous to develop a fanatical devotion to a nation OR its symbols, and perhaps people like me are a bit cynical because of all the atrocities and horrors committed in the name of nationalism.

 

[Gigano]

Not in the least.

Nationalism never did appeal to me, and I suspect that quite often those who take great pride in revering such empty symbols and gestures are those least inclined to actually do palpable things that'd cost them something when it comes to helping out their fellow countrymen anyway.