Why are the Stars and Stripes so Popular?

My step-father collects flags so I understand why some people enjoy putting flags up outside there homes, but I have never seen so many flags as in America. I was in New Jersey and I passed through a town where they had decided to place the Stars and Stripes on every single lamppost. There must have been around 5,000 of them - and they were permanent fixtures.

I started to wonder why and I have come up with a few reasons. Firstly, America is a country built on immigration and recent immigrants were/ are keen to assimilate and lose their accents. One way of showing that you are a patriotic American is by flying the flag - perhaps this is a relic from earlier days of immigration?

Americans I have spoken to have suggested that the flags are more prominent in times of war. There was a noticeable increase during the 1991 Gulf War and after the attacks of September 11th. Another suggested that the flag-waving is a leftover of the Cold War when people felt threatened by the "Red Menace".

Most nations enjoy waving their flags (Queen's Jubilee, Last Night of the Prom's - UK or ANZAC Day in Australia/ New Zealand - to name a couple) but they pale in comparison to the USA.

Perhaps it is because the flag is viewed in a different manner in the States? Schoolchildren pledge allegiance to the flag every single school day - that is roughly 3,000 times - does it have an impact?

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag
Of the United States of America
And to the Republic for which it stands
One Nation Under God, Indivisible,
With Liberty and Justice for All

In Britain, local councils are attempting to tidy up the street furniture and asking people to take down flags that they have hanging - they would have a harder job State-side if it were implemented there!

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BY: Doug