I have an American flag and a Progress Pride flag hanging out front. As a disabled vet, MAGA can go fuck themselves. This flag does not represent what they stand for.
If someone flys an American flag by itself that is a symbol of what? What assumptions are you implying? If someone else from a different country flys their own countries flag alone what assumptions are made then?
Wow, someone else asked almost exactly this. I'm happy to answer you though.
In short? It depends, because communication through symbols is not simple and because we're describing perceptions.
As an example, if you fly a plain, humble, stars-and-bars by your front door, as you suggest? Not much.
If you fly a very large flag with tons of extra red-white-and-blue yard decoration, someone might think you're way into the patriot vibe and please do not thank me for my service.
If you fly a special merch flag with a 250th anniversary logo and have a thin blue line sticker and Molon Labe on the truck on your driveway, someone might assume you've gotten lost in the sauce and are too caught up in nationalist rhetoric to realize that 1) the thin blue line would be the ones coming to take them and 2) nobody's coming for your guns dickweed the logistics for disarming American civvies are impossible.
If you fly an American flag over a Pride Progress flag, your state flag and a BLM flag, someone might assume that you're someone who loves the country, recognizes that the American flag gets flown over other flags when displayed together and also recognizes the needs and challenges affecting marginalized groups. Or someone might assume you're a schizo leftist, I dunno.
If someone in another country flies their countries flag, what that might say will vary depending on the country and political climate - in many countries it is not typical to do so, so you might just be weird. In China, you might be trying to collect social credit score. In Russia you might be trying to avoid the next mobilization. Or it could be a sign of surging national identity and patriotism, or any number of other things - so the question about different countries is even more difficult to answer with any kind of certainty.
I hope these examples help you to understand how visible symbols can be variably perceived by the people around you!
Flying the American flag solo at home does not mean youāre a MAGA supporter. If thatās what youāre implying. If you donāt understand that, then I guess I donāt care if I offend you.
Obviously plenty of people have an American flag and aren't maga, but the vast majority of American flags are accompanied by maga/Trump flags where I live and where I have traveled. Both on houses and cars.
I don't realize that, actually. I think you need to substantiate your claims. I see plenty of places flying the American flag, including one block away from me, and it's not being flown by "ghouls," but rather nice, Jewish-American citizens.
PROTIP: If you're going to pretend to be American, we spell "realize" with an "s."
We don't always spell realize with an S, we often use a Z - but linguistics in America is variable because the USA is fkn huge
The usage of the American flag by very nice people does not prevent fascists and tyrants from co-opting those symbols. In fact, the people co-opting those symbols rely on those very nice people for camouflage.
You asked for substantiation. See the gif for an example of performative patriotism relying on the flag to protect a person who was involved in Epstein etc.
This is literally the "Hitler drank water" argument. Yes, bad people use the flag, but that doesn't taint the flag. Otherwise, I better hope you're not drinking water, fascist.
Hitler drank water - but water was never a symbol of German identity. Hitler did, however, co-opt other national symbols and the "German" identity for nationalism.
There is nothing wrong with loving the flag or your country, but to pretend that people are not engaged in using those symbols to support their own agenda is ostrich behaviour.
But the American right has flown the American flag for the wrong reasons for decades. They have weaponized it and their patriotism has morphed into nationalism.
So many people now assume normal Americans with a flag might be the crazy right wing nuts with flags who tried to overthrow the government.
It depends, because communication through symbols is not simple!
As an example, if you fly a plain, humble, stars-and-bars by your front door? Not much.
If you fly a very large flag with tons of extra red-white-and-blue yard decoration, someone might think you're way into the patriot vibe and please do not thank me for my service.
If you fly a special merch flag with a 250th anniversary logo and have a thin blue line sticker and Molon Labe on the truck on your driveway, someone might assume you've gotten lost in the sauce and are too caught up in nationalist rhetoric to realize that 1) the thin blue line would be the ones coming to take them and 2) nobody's coming for your guns dickweed the logistics for disarming American civvies are impossible.
If you fly an American flag over a Pride Progress flag, your state flag and a BLM flag, someone might assume that you're someone who loves the country, recognizes that the American flag gets flown over other flags when displayed together and also recognizes the needs and challenges affecting marginalized groups. Or someone might assume you're a schizo leftist, I dunno.
These are just some possible outcomes and examples. I hope this has provided a roadmap for understanding that your displays that are meant to be perceived will be judged by the people perceiving them!
I choose to engage with something like a positive attitude and with something resembling good faith because 1) I might be wrong, 2) someone else might read it and 3) maintaining a more positive attitude is how I hack my brain out of consuming depression.
Remember, the power of positive thinking is closely related to the power of self-deception.
Not at all. You're perceived to be sealioning because you're perceived to be asking a question in bad faith.
To elaborate: you asked what assumptions might get made when someone flies a flag. Then, upon getting a context-laden response leading with "it depends" you picked one portion to latch onto. This looks like you cherry-picked in order to maximize your ability to be offended or failed to maintain reading comprehension. Since you have an apparent pattern of "just asking questions" without any great desire to appreciate the perspectives of others, even if you disagree, it looks very much like textbook sealioning!
If you don't want to be accused of doing a thing, you may want to modify your presentation in a a way that looks like good-faith or not being a shitheel - but that's up to you!
Ah, you didn't ask what was true - you asked what might be assumed, which is necessarily a matter of perception. I said nothing about the person with that set of flags and labels actually being anti-American - you made that up all on your own. Good job.
Your lack of familiarity with US gun culture is immaterial - you could google the terms if you so chose and then the context might make sense. But I assume you won't - and that's okay.
It could also have been "if you chose to do so" because English is squidgy like that, and because the past tense applies when discussing a thing that you did not choose to do - you could have googled Molon Labe and you did not, electing to post in admitted ignorance instead. There are many ways to express things in English and sometimes more than one is valid.
No shame in admitting ignorance of course - it's laudable to acknowledge the things we don't know. I only describe it as ignorance because you did not choose to do the search-engine thing.
I also didn't choose to be coopted as something other than a flag waver of note solely because others have a sordid opinion of such an act simply because of public opinion of a specific person or group.
It's literally no different than those imbeciles who are currently picking on Michael Dell's wife, calling her an alien because she doesn't look like a model. A bunch of childish fools hiding behind their mothers apron.
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u/crashcartjockey 5h ago
I have an American flag and a Progress Pride flag hanging out front. As a disabled vet, MAGA can go fuck themselves. This flag does not represent what they stand for.