Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Irish flags are everywhere here in Greater Boston. Once in a while, I also see Portuguese, South Vietnamese (but never the North), Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian and Jamaican flags. In Chinatown, both the ROC and PRC flags are displayed. For many years, you could only see the ROC flag as Boston was an overseas Guomindang stronghold. In the past two decades, their influence has diminished and newcomers from Mainland China have made inroads, which is why you also now see PRC flags.
As for national... I've seen a few Irish and UK flags, couple Italian ones. Then Swedish / Danish / Norwegian can be found mainly in the Ballard neighborhood.
That Cascadia flag has separatist connotations, does it not? I remember reading years ago that it was 'flown' (the semantic convention of referring to 'flying' a flag is kind of ridiculous, but whatever) by people who wanted Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia to form a nation-state of their own.
Some people take great pride in their family heritage and fly the flags of their ancestors, and at least where I live, most also fly the American flag at the same time. Many also have living memory of family that was not born in this country, but moved here to make a better life for themselves and their descendants. Being an American doesn't automatically erase your family's history or experience, and flying another flag doesn't make one any less proud to be an American. When I see foreign flags flown it makes me appreciate what a great country this is that accepts people from all over, and that you don't have to be a blue-blood to be a real American. Some people express their individuality by flying school flags, flags of a sports team, flags in support or protest of politicians or political causes, or flags representing their heritage - in addition to flying the American flag.
In my area I have seen many many flags: Italy, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Canada, Poland, Ukraine, Sicily, Germany, Somalia, El Salvador, Greece, France, Australia, Cuba, Great Britain, England, Scotland, Jamaica, Syria, Iraq. Certainly there were many I missed or didn't recognize as national flags. Some were on homes, some were on businesses. In many larger groups of immigrants I don't see many flags at all.
We also have every type of local and regional, pro sports, school and college, political, protest, support, heritage, gender, ethnic, etc type of flags flown, often in opposition to those across the street or next door.
Despite the considerable amount of time I've spent at Founding Fathers Pub in Buffalo, where flags of all types adorn the ceiling, I have to admit I wouldn't be able to identify a Syrian or Somalian flag, and possibly not a Salvadoran one either (though my soccer fandom may bail me out there, as they're frequent opponents of the US). As a kid, I had a world map hanging in my room that featured images of each country's flag at the bottom, but I will have to rely on Google for my learning now...we'll see if El Salvador's strikes me as familiar
ETA PS: way to fight the good fight upthread with the ignorant apparent Floridian who couldn't seem to comprehend the notion of harboring simultaneous allegiances to one's country and one's place of origin.
Irish flags are everywhere here in Greater Boston. Once in a while, I also see Portuguese, South Vietnamese (but never the North), Dominican, Puerto Rican, Haitian and Jamaican flags. In Chinatown, both the ROC and PRC flags are displayed. For many years, you could only see the ROC flag as Boston was an overseas Guomindang stronghold. In the past two decades, their influence has diminished and newcomers from Mainland China have made inroads, which is why you also now see PRC flags.
All of this. I see a lot of Columbia and El Salvador in Eastie. Also lots of Italian in Eastie still as well as the North End (obviously), parts of Newton (The Lake - even the road lines are painted like the Italian flag), and Somerville. I see more Ecuador flags than I'd expect too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
