I am an American and I completely agree, the flag is everywhere. You would think it was required by law, like portraits of Dear Leader in communist totalitarian states, but no, the flag cult is voluntary. “Cringe” is exactly right. Some people just plaster the flag on things as a substitute for any sense of style or design. We’ve been indoctrinated into the flag cult throughout our childhoods, where there was a flag in every room in our schools, and a coordinated prayer-to-the-flag moment every morning.
I went to Canada in the summer of 2025. In reaction to the insanity from Washington, Canada was experiencing a possibly-unprecedented wave of nationalism, businesses were advertising that they were proudly Canadian, there were even “flag stores” just like we have in the US, but with Canadian flags. In spite of this, Canada had something like 5% as many flags flying in public as the US does. It was possible to be out in public for many minutes at a time without seeing any flags at all. That doesn’t happen in the US.
Americans don’t understand how propagandized they are.
Edit: Cringe example: The Boulevard of 500 Flags. The notion that it’s a memorial to 9/11 is a modern revision, it goes back to the 90s. That is, this was built, by a large group of supposedly grown-up men, before the wave of post-9/11 nationalism.
I am an American and I completely agree, the flag is everywhere. You would think it was required by law, like portraits of Dear Leader in communist totalitarian states, but no, the flag cult is voluntary. “Cringe” is exactly right. Some people just plaster the flag on things as a substitute for any sense of style or design. We’ve been indoctrinated into the flag cult throughout our childhoods, where there was a flag in every room in our schools, and a coordinated prayer-to-the-flag moment every morning.
I went to Canada in the summer of 2025. In reaction to the insanity from Washington, Canada was experiencing a possibly-unprecedented wave of nationalism, businesses were advertising that they were proudly Canadian, there were even “flag stores” just like we have in the US, but with Canadian flags. In spite of this, Canada had something like 5% as many flags flying in public as the US does. It was possible to be out in public for many minutes at a time without seeing any flags at all. That doesn’t happen in the US.
Americans don’t understand how propagandized they are.
Edit: Cringe example: The Boulevard of 500 Flags. The notion that it’s a memorial to 9/11 is a modern revision, it goes back to the 90s. That is, this was built, by a large group of supposedly grown-up men, before the wave of post-9/11 nationalism.