What’s this about “recoiling at American style flag based patriotism”? A lot of Americans, including myself, have flags hanging in front of their homes. It’s a standard decorative item.
I know - it is part and parcel of American culture. The flag is glamorous and ubiquitous. The British approach has traditionally been much more low key.
Very good piece, Ritula. But I always feel just a bit less uneasy when I watch the Last Night of the Proms on TV and see all those people waving both Union flags and EU flags. Identity, eh? It's complicated.
Context is everything. I don’t love the words of Rule Britannia but I can laugh at the absurdity of it all. And for the past two decades it really has felt like an old fashioned tradition, not to be taken too literally. That’s why recent events are so unsettling. (When I got married, as part of the ceremony, the priest explained that I should wake up early and make breakfast for my husband and his parents. My close friends were laughing so much they were crying - the idea that a) I would wake up early and b) I should make everyone breakfast was clearly bonkers and never going to happen. Old fashioned? Sexist? Yes and yes. It now makes for a good story and wasn’t threatening at the time because no one believed it would happen or would be made to happen).
What’s this about “recoiling at American style flag based patriotism”? A lot of Americans, including myself, have flags hanging in front of their homes. It’s a standard decorative item.
I know - it is part and parcel of American culture. The flag is glamorous and ubiquitous. The British approach has traditionally been much more low key.
Recoil at American style flag based patriotism?
Very good piece, Ritula. But I always feel just a bit less uneasy when I watch the Last Night of the Proms on TV and see all those people waving both Union flags and EU flags. Identity, eh? It's complicated.
Context is everything. I don’t love the words of Rule Britannia but I can laugh at the absurdity of it all. And for the past two decades it really has felt like an old fashioned tradition, not to be taken too literally. That’s why recent events are so unsettling. (When I got married, as part of the ceremony, the priest explained that I should wake up early and make breakfast for my husband and his parents. My close friends were laughing so much they were crying - the idea that a) I would wake up early and b) I should make everyone breakfast was clearly bonkers and never going to happen. Old fashioned? Sexist? Yes and yes. It now makes for a good story and wasn’t threatening at the time because no one believed it would happen or would be made to happen).