Do you fly an American flag at your home?

Do you fly the American flag at your home?

  • Yes

    Votes: 56 29.0%

  • No

    Votes: 94 48.7%

  • Only on special occasions

    Votes: 43 22.3%
  • Total voters
    193
Status
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I'm not sure how to explain it but many of the lakefront homes on our lake fly American flags regularly... 7 of the 7 properties that I can see on our shoreline from our deck but I think our little part of shoreline is probably not typical. The one thing I would observe is that those properties flying flags tend to have people that are living there full-time during the summer. People who come out for weekends and all tend to not fly flags all the time so often.

I'll have to try to remember to do a count on one of our cocktail cruises.
 
Suppose I am mean spirited, selfish and uncivil to all around me. I own a business and regularly cheat on my income taxes and still complain bitterly about the small amount I do pay. I mistreat my employees and steal their wages. When my country calls me to serve (whether for military service or simply for jury duty) I evade that call. I regularly disregard the law and put others in danger. I help rig the vote in elections. I bribe government officials to get favorable treatment for my business in laws and regulations. I go through life giving not a care or thought to my fellow men and would never deign to assist them in any way.

Given all the above, so long as I fly the US flag everyday, am I still a patriotic American? I say no, and I hope most would agree with me. Patriotism is the way one lives, not whether one flies a flag.
 
I put the flag out today and will take it down on July 5. A neighbor has had multiple flags and bunting out all week and flies one flag all the time. He’s the only one in the neighborhood like that.
 
Gumby said:
Suppose I am mean spirited, selfish and uncivil to all around me. I own a business and regularly cheat on my income taxes and still complain bitterly about the small amount I do pay. I mistreat my employees and steal their wages. When my country calls me to serve (whether for military service or simply for jury duty) I evade that call. I regularly disregard the law and put others in danger. I help rig the vote in elections. I bribe government officials to get favorable treatment for my business in laws and regulations. I go through life giving not a care or thought to my fellow men and would never deign to assist them in any way.
Click to expand...
We know folks like that ..........
🙂
 
ShokWaveRider said:
I really do not think it is a lack of patriotism. I find most US residents, born citizens and naturalized citizens are very patriotic, we are. I do not think not flying a flag has anything to do with not being patriotic. The poll shows an even split if you include on occasion.
Click to expand...

Absolutely agree. Displaying a flag may well be a symbol of the flyer's patriotism. To many, it is an important symbol and I'm fine with that. However, if you consider yourself patriotic, flying a flag is in itself not patriotism; it is a symbol of your allegiances and feelings towards our country. You can be very patriotic without flying a flag.
 
Gumby said:
Patriotism is the way one lives, not whether one flies a flag.
Click to expand...
I would add that it’s also in how you vote on certain issues.
I have always voted for veterans services/benefits. A lot is expected of our military people and I think they should be well compensated during their service and after.
I live in a military town with an Air Force base located here. I remember when GIs were sometimes eligible for food stamps. It was rather infuriating.

Anecdotally I had 2 neighbors- 1 was career Air Force- retired and I remember him saying that he just wasn’t a flag flying person. This was about 20 years ago. He has since moved.
My other neighbor was a career merchant marine and he flew the American flag on top and then I think the merchant marine flag? He has since passed away. I think that they were both patriotic. They just showed it in different ways.
 
Tomorrow and Flag Day for me. Only daylight hours and not if it rains. I know that's very old fashioned
 
I am picking up my usa flag package today from my UPS store where they receive my deliveries. We will put it up today. Updated: Flag picked up and got it up.
1783108261731.jpeg
 
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Major Tom said:
Absolutely agree. Displaying a flag may well be a symbol of the flyer's patriotism. To many, it is an important symbol and I'm fine with that. However, if you consider yourself patriotic, flying a flag is in itself not patriotism; it is a symbol of your allegiances and feelings towards our country. You can be very patriotic without flying a flag.
Click to expand...
Conversely, one can fly the flag with a false sense of patriotism too.
 
ShokWaveRider said:
I really do not think it is a lack of patriotism. I find most US residents, born citizens and naturalized citizens are very patriotic, we are. I do not think not flying a flag has anything to do with not being patriotic. The poll shows an even split if you include on occasion.
Click to expand...
I agree. I would not evaluate someone's "patriotism" based on their display of the flag or not.

But I do feel it is a shame when folks face repercussions for flying the flag, with assumptions made about them, and them being targeted for doing so.
 
Irishgirlyc58 said:
I live in a military town with an Air Force base located here. I remember when GIs were sometimes eligible for food stamps. It was rather infuriating.
Click to expand...
Perhaps surprisingly, there are still active duty military using SNAP benefits. Junior enlisted with families, living in high cost of living areas for the most part.
Of course there are millions of veterans on SNAP, but the fact that there are active duty folks as well is certainly disappointing.

Back to the topic at hand, I was greatly heartened this morning when one of the homeowners at the condo HOA I just left contacted me. We had a large flagpole at the place, and I used to take care of it. Bought a new flag every couple of years when it got faded, etc.
He asked me to show him the procedure for changing it, since there are many who really appreciate having the flag flying over their street.
 
jollystomper said:
I agree. I would not evaluate someone's "patriotism" based on their display of the flag or not.

But I do feel it is a shame when folks face repercussions for flying the flag, with assumptions made about them, and them being targeted for doing so.
Click to expand...
The assumptions can run both ways.
 
We have a small one on the porch all the time.

I think the ideals this country was founded on are good.
Too bad we have never lived up to them. Yet.
I hope we do 100% live up to them some day.
 
Ronstar said:
That is sad. So are the results of this poll. But it's typical given the lack of patriotism these days.
Click to expand...
Thinking about that, google tells me about 65% of American families own their home. So 35% mostly can't fly a flag. And even in that 65%, a decent fraction is condos or similar who probably can't fly a flag even if they want to.

This forum probably leans toward the 65% that own, but also includes condo owners, CCRCs, and HOA-restricted folks. And of course there are those that just aren't interested.

So I think ~50% flying flags at home is quite a reasonable number.
 
Midpack said:
Unfortunately flying the US flag has come to mean different things to different people. Some groups/people have hijacked the US flag as part of their cause. No, I can't explain further without a mod intervention, you know what I mean or you don't...
Click to expand...
I flew one for many many years but the current political climate makes that impossible! I miss the simpler times when neighbors respected each other more!
 
USGrant1962 said:
Thinking about that, google tells me about 65% of American families own their home. So 35% mostly can't fly a flag. And even in that 65%, a decent fraction is condos or similar who probably can't fly a flag even if they want to.

This forum probably leans toward the 65% that own, but also includes condo owners, CCRCs, and HOA-restricted folks. And of course there are those that just aren't interested.

So I think ~50% flying flags at home is quite a reasonable number.
Click to expand...
I suppose you're right. I never considered the demographic of our group compared to the overall. Maybe our group demographic is such that 50% is ok given the constraints you mention. I'm just depressed over what I perceive as a lack of patriotism overall - maybe it's fueled by the media I'm consuming.
 
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Retired Expat said:
I flew one for many many years but the current political climate makes that impossible! I miss the simpler times when neighbors respected each other more!
Click to expand...
And that's the white elephant in the room that we can't discuss, but wouldn't have needed to discuss it or even think about it years ago.
 
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