The Big Question: Star Spangled Edition
By PlumcakeSo I’m trying to get myself all het up over American Independence Day this year. It’s not quite working out, and I am concerned.
I’m not worried about my inability to muster the customary excitement over celebrating the birth of the nation that has brought us inventions that add so much to my daily life (Diet Coke, The Federalist Papers, The Colt Single Action Revolver with custom mother-of-pearl inlay and scrollwork.) No, I’m worried because it is The Matchiest Holiday and I am allergic to matchy. When I saw that Herr Karl chose “God Bless America” as the theme for Spring rtw at Chanel, I quivered in my extended-calf boots. The sign of bad things to come.
So what’s the deal? Why do so many people who wouldn’t dream of wearing leprechaun socks in March or heart-shaped dealybobbers on their heads for Valentine’s Day have no problem going all yankee doodle dumbass in giant foam hats to celebrate the birth of the our nation?
Am I an old crabbity crab? Do I hate America, Mom and Apple Pie? Do I kick children and puppies and put eyedrops in the Communion wine? Of course not!* But I want to know what YOU think.
This week Plumcake wants to know:
Do you think wearing red, white and blue on the Fourth of July is a fun way to get in the spirit or is it just cheesy and painfully literal? And for those of you who really want to get into the meaty stuff…Is wearing an American flag disrespectful?
*My lawyer told me to say that.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
The last time I wore a red, white, and blue outfit on purpose was during the Bicentennial when I was just coming up on fourteen. I tried to resist, but the fabric was so cute and my mother made it into this adoreable little red pinstriped sundress with a blue shrug covered in white stars, and I was weak.
I love my country. I just don’t express my patriotism through my wardrobe choices.
As for wearing the flag…if you must have a shirt or a jacket, that’s between you and your God. But I absolutely draw the line at pants. Sitting on the flag just isn’t respectful.
Oh, and I’m allergic to those little flag pins.
And I don’t like fireworks, either.
So there.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I occasionally just want to wear red, white and blue, and I resent my own occasional feeling that maybe I should refrain lest I summon cheesy flag associations. Like, I’ll want to wear my white linen skirt with this red or navy or navy-and-white top, and here are some awesome blue/red shoes…. oh wait…. shit.
But I think r/w/b is OK if it’s not explicitly flaggy — actual stars-and-stripes patterns are where it gets cheesy and/or disrespectful. Basically, if you kind of remind yourself of the flag, but you can’t identify the resemblance as especially specific to the American flag, the French flag or the British flag, you’re fine. (The use of the British flag in fashion is a whole other semiotic ballpark, and I do not trespass therein.)
I personally probably wouldn’t do r/w/b on the 4th, not out of any anti-patriotic sentiment, just that I’m allergic to commemorative holiday outfits.
July 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
I love holidays. I am the annoying one who wears shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day and hearts for Valentine’s day. I think it’s fun. The Little Man and I will be wearing our finest “Uncle Sam” hats to view he fireworks on Friday. We’ll also be up dancing to the music and having a gay ol’ time!
If it is an actual flag made into an item to be worn, I have a problem with that. If it is fabric, not so much. It is all about taste and I don’t wish to see anyones bazongas or hoo-hah hanging out of anything, patriotic or not.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:44 pm
I have always deliberately tried to avoid anything with a red-white-blue color theme. That is, since the second grade, when my school picture has me wearing a blue jacket with a red collar, and red-white-blue swirly buttons, every one done up to my chin. As I recall, there was some sort of matching dress under.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Wearing the flag is a violation of the flag code. For some reason it also gets my goat like nothing else.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Flag-colored garments are just fine by me — it’s fun and happy and celebratory. I agree, though, that wearing the flag itself, or anything that could be construed as a flag itself, is not in the best of taste and may annoy your fellow celebrants — and why do that on the Fourth of July?
I’m not a holiday dresser-up, ordinarily (St. Patrick’s Day green-hat cute-itude particularly gets my Irish goat), but this post makes me want to go out and get myself a nice Uncle Sam suit for the Fourth! (I’ll probably dispense with the beard, though.)
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Oh, and I do wish to make something a bit clearer from my earlier comment: I feel flag PATTERNED shirts and jackets are a matter of personal taste. I do not condone the use of actual flags to make them.
I also feel compelled to point out that in honoring my father’s memory I religiously wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day. I do often put on some sort of costume on Halloween, but other than that, I don’t dress for holidays. I dress for me and don’t worry about the colors/symbols of the day.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
“I also feel compelled to point out that in honoring my father’s memory I religiously wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day.”
If the Twistie’s father was an Orangeman, then the day of celebration is the 12th of July, is it not?
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Twistie, I am with Annalucia. July 12 would be far more appropriate. Orange on March 17 is considered an invitation to get the crap beaten out of you in certain areas of the US for very good cause.
As for the original question, I find it highly ironic that the sort of people who were angriest at the hippies who wore the flag as a sign of protest are the first to jump at wearing the most garish representations of it they can get their hands on these days. Flag-adorned disposable merchandise was considered declasse for a long time, and the flag pins and ribbons were what you wore. Now we see people attaching flags to their cars in violation of the code because they think it makes them look more patriotic. I personally don’t combine red, white and blue in my July 4 wardrobe anymore. I did as a child, but that’s about it.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:10 pm
I remember when i was in high school a couple of Goth girls wore flags to school as sarongs. I believe they got suspended for a few days as a result. I was ambivilant — I went to high school in a highly conservative area of California, and the same people who suspended those Goth girls also dressed up in stars-and-stripes patterned clothing for the Fourth and displayed flag stuff on their cars year-round. Which just doesn’t compute… whether it’s fabric sewn together specifically to be a flag or fabric dyed to *look like* the flag, the symbolism is the same. It’s either disrespectful to wear it or it’s not.
For myself, I try to avoid flag-patterned things because they’re invariably tacky. Sometimes I’ll find myself wearing r/w/b, but rarely (if ever) on purpose. I love this country and the promise it usually represents, but I’m not much into nationalism.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
I do try and wear some kind of ‘Americana’ themed outfit for the 4th. But it’s more likely to be, white t shirt, 501’s, and maybe red lipstick (not since I dyed my hair though, it just does not work with this color). I also stubbornly refuse to spell anything the non-American way (ex: colour instead of color, centre instead of center) - but that’s because I’m an expat and have to worry about such things!
As for wearing the flag. Why not? It’s very iconic and statement making - especially because we don’t do it as often as Brits, or Aussies. As long as you burn it afterward it should be fine. That is how you are properly supposed to dispose of a flag right? At least that’s I’ve been told.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:31 pm
I always try to wear red, white, and blue on the 4th, but tastefully. It’s usually blazingly hot at the holiday parties, so, say, a red tank top and white skirt with cute sandals. Patriotic, yet a perfectly pleasant outfit for any time.
The closest I’ve come to wearing a flag is a shirt with a flag printed on the front, like the one I have that says “Tried and True” under the stylized depiction of the flag. It’s a red knit shirt with 3/4 sleeves, blue stitching, and a nicely fitted cut, and therefore looks nice enough overall to offset the slight cheese factor…enough…. When I was single I would never have worn that to a function where I might potentially encounter an interested fella, just in case. Now that I got me a man, and a country boy at that, I wear it as much as any of my other similar tops.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I love anything red. I have 7 different red shoes. I like blue even tho it is so hard to match. White is classic, upscale, and confident. That being said, I am 52 and anything that matchy matchy holiday themish is so dowdy, first time cruiser tacky. I would be better off having family tee shirts made proclaiming “Smith Family Vacation- Aruba or Bust!-Disco Rulz!”
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:13 pm
I don’t wear flags, and don’t plan to wear red, white & blue for the 4th… but now, St. Patrick’s Day? That deserves a full costume–parade attire–including beads, a boa and a green tiara!
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:17 pm
The History major in me has a very hard time celebrating the 4th in the first place (helloooo… wrong day, people!) but every year I seem to inadvertently wear either red or blue on the day. Is it my fault that I look good in red? And I, who wore a cowboy hat painted with a Texas flag to football games in college, cannot stomach wearing an American flag on Independence Day. I think it may just be the heat that makes me cranky this time of year :D
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Ah, but Annalucia and Lysana, my father’s point in wearing orange on March 17 was to be annoying. There are areas of the country where it would have been a strong invitation to having the crap beaten out of him, but we did not live in such an area, nor do I live in such an area now. Had we lived in, say, Boston, there would have been no question of attempting that form of nose tweaking.
Besides, my father and I were more interested most of the time in celebrating our Scottish heritage and neither of us took part in any organized religious practices.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:10 am
Hrm… I don’t mind the red/white/blue combo, but obnoxious prints full of flags/fireworks/apple pie/uncle sam….. totally annoying.
but if I could make myself this grand tacky spangly ballgown of crazy awesome, I would wear it, and just rock the shit out of it. Complete with a Lady Liberty tiara :-)
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 am
I’m old enough to remember 1976 well, and it will always stick in my memory as “the year everyone dressed like a Budweiser can”. They’re nice colors for a flag, but on clothing? Yeah, too matchy-matchy. It doesn’t help that so much of what’s out there is so blatantly holiday-themed. It’s really hard to keep from looking tacky.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 am
Well…you wouldn’t wear a christmas sweater. Same goes for red, white and blue.
Im in a military town and we are already covered. Like patriotic ants on picnic plaid. Save meeeeeeeee.
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:48 am
I really really really dislike holiday themed wear, and I will not, under any circumstances, wear red, white, and blue together. I wouldn’t even dress my niece in those colors when she was a baby.
I don’t know, personally, I think it’s rather tacky. And I want to change the American flag to something more tasteful, maybe a nice royal blue with the American eagle in the middle or something. Subtle, but strong.
July 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 am
We just had our Canada Day up here, and in the capital of Canada, almost everyone was wearing at least red. Even I was, but it’s an awesome shirt that I rarely get to wear anyways.
A lot of people were going around with the Canadian flags tied around their necks like a cape. I called them ‘Captain Canada’ - is that copyright infringement?
In any case, I believe it’s bad form to actually sew the flag (of any type) into a different shape than a flat rectangle (unless your flag is not rectangular), but wearing it… well, that’s your choice.
I do have a phobia of wearing red and green together, though…
/babble
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 am
I live in Philadelphia- a few blocks from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall- the acctual Cradle of Liberty. For some odd reason people feel compelled to wear Flag themed articles of clothing year round when visiting the Birthplace of our nation. It is kind of funny to see, and I am somewhat impressed by the length people will go to to have the best matchy matchy flag outfit. My step daughter and I created a drinking game called “The Tacky Patriotic American Drinking Game” The rules are somewhat elaborate- yes we acctually wrote out rules- bonus points were given for entire families dressed matchy matchy or if a pet was wearing a flag themed garment. We gave special dispensation to obvious vets- They fought for our right to wear tacky clothing, they can wear whatever you want. We also said that people over 80 could wear whatever they wanted. I seem to recall something special about smaking special needs peoples caretakers if the special needs person was too matchy matchy and agreed that children under 5 were allowed, because they were cute.
Personally, I think its OK to wear a tasteful flag pin, or 501’s, a white T-Shirt and Red Lipstick. I think wearing a garment made out of an acctual flag is disrespectful to the flag, but you have the right to do it. If you must wear flag inspired clothing, plese do it near my loft so I can at least get a drink out of it….
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:21 am
I don’t own any American flag-themed clothing, mostly because I dislike getting snickered at by you people who think showing love for America is repulsive, or misplaced, or twee *cough* and I have low impulse control (also, Old Navy was printing one every year for awhile and I dislike Old Navy). If you don’t like seeing people wear symbols of their country, move to Britain, to one of the towns where the local Muslims decided the Union Jack is “offensive” and the local governments obligingly forbade its display.
But I have a great T-shirt with a screen print of Reagan in the iconic “Che” pose that I will wear tomorrow, mostly to tweak you people who think murdering Communist thugs are better people than the American founders.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Heather, I don’t wear the flag on my back or my butt. I wear what it stands for deep in my heart. Since the day I turned eighteen, I have missed voting in precisely one election I was eligable to vote in. It was a one-issue, uncontested local matter that I really didn’t care about that much and the only reason I didn’t vote was because I was at the hospital waiting to see how Mr. Twistie’s emergency appendectomy went…and I still feel guilty about forgetting that election more than ten years later. When I stood in Independance Hall, I had to take a moment to compose myself. I have read extensively about and of the works of several of the founding fathers.
If you choose to wear flag-themed clothing, that is entirely up to you. If you choose not to do so, that is also entirely up to you. Don’t blame it on me. Fashion sense and a lack of patriotism are not the same thing.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 am
I agree with twistie- My pride and love of country are written in my heart and I show it by voting, showing up for Jury Duty, supporting our military and practicing free speech- which includes you sense of style. You can wear whatever you want, flag inspired or not, at any time. Free speech also allows me to point and laugh if I want.
I am firmly not a Communist; I have spent a great deal of my life surrounded by people who are willing to lay down their lives in order to allow us to have this discussion. I get choked up every time I pass by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell- Which I do on a fairly regular basis. The audacity of the founding fathers to really reinvent government is staggering. This country is not perfect, we are still working out the glitches, but it is a pretty amazing place to live and my pride in being an American has nothing to do with the clothes I put on my back.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:10 am
The U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Sec. 8(d) states, “The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.”
Also, “It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.”
There’s also some interesting rules about displaying flags on vehicles, too.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:17 am
July fourth was/is my sainted mother’s birthday and so we always had a big family barbecue (still do) and birthday party for her and, in keeping with the spirit of the day, we wore as much red white & blue as possible. One year we also dressed mom up as the statue of liberty, but that’s a whole other story. I’m not a big fan of flag patterned clothing as something about it just seems off.
I will basically dress up in holiday-appropriate colors & costumes for July 4th, Halloween, Christmas (no beaded, embroidered sweaters, but I have been known to wear my Santa hat and jingle bell earrings when distributing gifts), Valentines Day and definitely St. Patrick’s day.
It just seems to me that on certain occasions being tacky is fashionable and shunning the tacky or looking down on those that embrace it smacks a bit of self-congratulatory elitism.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 am
Oh and OUCH Heather, “You people”? Honey you gotta learn to unwind or you’ll hurt yourself. Now let’s all take a step back and celebrate this wonderful country that gives us all the opportunity to think, speak and dress as we damn well please. Isn’t that what it should be all about?
July 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Wow, it didn’t take very long for someone to throw out the “go move somewhere where you have to live among Muslims, you commie bastards” line.
You know, I also refused to wear my high school’s colors. But that didn’t mean that I went and sat on the other side of the stadium during football games, nor did it mean I was ignorant of the fact that my high school was the best academic place for me to be out of all the high schools I could transfer to in my area.
I’m a lit major. Symbolism is great and all, but symbols are mere vehicles used to convey meaning. The meaning is what counts, and it exists irrespective of the use of symbols. Give me the actual founding documents of our government over a flag any day of the freaking year. They’re much more exciting.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
This is the tricky thing about symbols. What you see and what I see are not the same, but they are similar enough that conflict ensues. Twistie sees her act on St. Patrick day as playful, feisty, honoring her father and her heritage, and not harmful given her socio-spatial context in the US. I see it as wrong regardless of the context–the action of a person who is either ignorant of or cruel enough to be indifferent to the actual suffering on both sides associated with the symbol.
Which brings us to the confederate flag. Would that be ok to wear around–just a little nose-tweaking to the politically correct rest of America? Just a little celebration of southern heritage? People do wear it as a symbol, they argue, of their unique culture and identity. But it’s also a symbol of slavery and lynching and much that is horrible about that history. So on the one hand we have people who are attached to the regional south who want to display it….at the same time we have many who deplore it for good reasons. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 500 extremist groups use the Southern Cross as one of their symbols. Thus we all kinda know what a symbols means. But not. I mean, if it’s just harmless, who cares? And if it doesn’t mean anything ugly, why are 500 groups in agreement about what it means?
Note in Germany the use of symbols and traditions has become suspect following the Nazis, for exactly these reasons of social construction and motivation. The poor little Hindu swastika, used for nearly 3,000 years as a symbol of positive things, gets retired with revulsion because of the Nazi’s use of it to motivate the murder of millions. When does pride for one’s group turn from cohesion into bigotry towards the other–the Catholic, the Protestant, the Jew, the Tutsi–the ones who are not of your tribe? For my own view, I think there is a lot about Scottish heritage or Southern heritage or American heritage or whatever heritage that can be celebrated without drawing on the symbols associated with evil.
You can argue against my approach, easily, by noting that it’s artificial to pick and choose what about a group’s history and symbolism you are going to preserve and use because by doing so, you at best reduce the culture and at worst whitewash it. Better to take the whole, the good and the bad, and say I still love my group, mistakes and evils and all, then it is to pretend evil never happened. I just wonder how it is possible to take this approach without the orange on St. Patrick’s day or the confederate flag problem: is this a symbol that somebody loves his people or is it a symbol that says he loves his people and thinks it cool that his people murdered my people and he’s shoving it in my face during my holiday and thus I am now inspired to “beat the crap out of” him or murder his people in return. Do you ever resolve these kinds of conflicts by paying attention to them, or do they die away because we pretend to forget and eventually, with generations, do forget.
—–
I don’t do anything on the 4th besides put fireworks bandanas on my two Pekes and go to the top of the building to watch fireworks with a pitcher of martinis, drunken Papist that I am. When we lived in Virginia I had a flag that I put up every morning and took down every night, but we live in a high-rise now. I always like it when people do up in the Christmas sweaters and ties and decorate their places for Halloween. Where I grew up, there was this house on the corner that did EVERY holiday with big decorations. I seldom dress up myself but I like it when others do–little girls in their Easter bonnets and old men in their sombreros for Cinco. It makes me smile.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Dressing in the colors of a holiday is tacky and cheesy. Doing so via something cutesy that might involve a Bedazzler or sequins or small animals bearing the emblems of the season is a crime against nature. And no, it’s still not okay if your darling cashmere sweater with the flag-waving, seed bead teddy bear came from Neiman’s.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I think it’s up to you. I don’t like blatent flag things, especially when they actually look like the flag cut up and sewn, but kitschy can be fun, if you’re into it. I’m pretty laissez-faire about what other people wear, though. I wear red white and blue on the Fourth because it’s a family tradition (along with chocolate milkshakes for the fireworks), although as I’ve gotten a little older (past elementary school), I tend to restrict it to red toenail polish, blue denim, and a white shirt (which is pretty much what I wear all summer anyways). Although, I recently Ebayed a great vintage RW&B scarf (polka dots!) that I think I’m going to wear in my hair tomorrow.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I generally eschew holiday clothing, although I give myself dispensation for the Santa Hat that I made from red silk velvet and (recycled) white fox fur.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I should point out–in fairness to Twistie–that wearing orange is considered acceptable among Irish protestants and many people do do it, depending on whether you see the holiday as an Irish holiday or whether you associate Ireland with specific religious traditions, and it does mean different things to different people–in rereading my post I see that I basically hint she’s awful. I didn’t mean that– I mean that’s the way the act/symbol reads to me because of the context where I grew up–not that I think that’s what she intends.
July 3rd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
I have never in my life heard of someone’s patriotism being questioned because of their sartorial choices. Bizarre. Do we now accuse someone of being against love, because they prefer not to dress up all in pink and red on Valentine’s Day? I think most Christmas sweaters are tacky as hell — but I love Christmas. Go figure.
At any rate, I think that it can be fun to dress somewhat thematically on one’s national holiday. Why not get into the spirit of things? That being said, there are always some people who go way over-the-top, and yes — it’s funny-looking. I also think it is in pretty poor taste for people to wear their flag on their bum. :) I’ve seen Canadian-flag print boxer shorts, and I think that they’re really pretty disrespectful. You can love your country without literally wrapping your pecker in the flag.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:25 pm
If I do it, I try to do it in a way that isn’t obvious. If that makes sense.
Like someone else said, I try to wear something “American”…my favorite is a white T-shirt/camisole, denim jacket (light weight) and a red skirt. It looks very classic/Ralph Lauren when paired with the right shoes and jewelry. And when I’m at an event, I blend in and when I’m not, I don’t look like a parade down main street.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:28 pm
“Dressing in the colors of a holiday is tacky and cheesy.” Well, discussion over, I guess. That’s the sort of thing that really makes me want to run out for red, white, and blue garb before it’s too late for this year!
Chaser, I’m Irish, as I presume you are — green variety, not orange — but I try not to take these things too much to heart. The cutesy crap around St. Patrick’s often seems to me to be more or less a daylong ethnic slur, but many of my fellow Irish-Americans (and the wannabes) enjoy it, and nobody seems to mean any harm. Intentional orange on the day irritates me a little because of the bloody history, but as you say, it means different things to different people, and mostly people who do it are just trying to get a rise out of somebody — no big deal. (I wouldn’t recommend it in an Irish bar, however.)
And Heather: I totally want one of those T-shirts!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I am aesthetically opposed to matchy matchy for myself. Small children yes, me no. I had a penchant for it when I was very young, but now I try to shoot for elegant. I don’t plan to wear something patriotic tomorrow, even though the 4th is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fireworks and I love what this country stands for and is.
Of the two worst holiday apparel transgressions I’ve seen, one was on the 4th of July. I saw a lady in her forties wearing a Budweiser dress. It looked like the label on the beer cans of that brand at the time and it was a tiny skin-tight spandex dress. She was in good shape, but oh, how tacky. The second was an awful woman I had to sit next to at my husband’s work Christmas party. She was wearing a black long sleeve tshirt with the grinch’s face on it all done in sequins. The grinch was quite large. It was unfortunately appropriate for the personality she had.
July 3rd, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Chaser -
I didn’t know that the confederate flag was referred to as the ‘Southern Cross’. When I was reading that part of your comment I just kept thinking… “What on earth does the constellation, the one used on the Aus and Nz flags, have to do with racism”… I finally sorted it out. And on occasion I’m a little slow. But it’s just a little funny considering the discussion on the interpretation of symbols and what not.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
I don’t do holiday-themed clothing at all, for any holiday. I love holidays; I’m just not into the cutsey-ness of holiday-themed attire.
July 4th, 2008 at 12:33 am
I confess: I do tend to wear something acknowledging the 4th. This year is one that has a smear of blue, a few stars, and a few red smears that kinda look like stripes, but with overlays of portions of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Star Spangled Banner, Gettysburg address, and some others on it. But I think there’s a not-so-very fine line between tasteful and tacky. I don’t mind you wearing a red shirt on Feb 14th, but head to toe hot pink isn’t on my To Do list.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:17 am
*Mind you what I described is on a shirt. It is not on a jacket, shirt, pants, eyeglass frame and hairband which all match. I’m patriotic, but I try not to be eye-rending while I’m about it.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I don’t see what’s wrong with a white top, denim bottom, and cute red shoes.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
“If you don’t like seeing people wear symbols of their country, move to Britain, to one of the towns where the local Muslims decided the Union Jack is “offensive” and the local governments obligingly forbade its display.”
As a Brit who is pretty fond of her country when all’s said and done, I’d far sooner have OMG-teh-Muslims for neighbours than you, lady.
July 4th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
As an Australian kid I really only noticed a few people wearing our colours of green & gold for Australia Day. I tried it a few times but no one else seemed to get into the spirit of things. Nowadays Australia Day is a huge celebration and we see red, white & blue on everything, but especially hats & t-shirts. I love that our country is starting to get together and show it’s national pride. I always admired that about Americans. I think sometimes national pride can go too far (and I mean for all nations) but there are days where you just want to go over the top and CELEBRATE! 4th of July is probably one of those days. I don’t think wearing flags is disrespectful done in the right way. The hats are cute and so are the t-shirts. But if someone wore a actual flag I’d have to think for what reason. If it was that they were proudly showing their colours (think sportsmen wearing them as capes after a big win) then it would be okay. If they cut up a flag to make patches on jeans, I may have to question that. It’s all about pride. We have so many people who don’t even look at the flag or sing our national anthem with pride. Those are far worse sins then those who wear a flag/symbol for the soul purpose of saying “I love this country”
July 4th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
I’d like to say that I thought “Southern Cross, huh?” myself.
But in fairness, I’d like to point out that that Australia does have it’s own “Southern Cross” flag used to represent rebellion and the struggle with higher powers.
http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/images/eureka.gif
Here is a quote about the flag also known as the “eureka flag”
Today, the Eureka flag is often used as a symbol of rebellion against authority by people at the extreme left and the extreme right of the political spectrum in Australia. It has been used in marches by neo-Nazis on the one hand and draped over the coffins of deceased Communists on the other.
July 5th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Not to dwell on politics but the Confederate flag is a symbol of my history and it has no business anywhere but in a museum. It was hung on the capital of South Carolina in 1963 in part to rebel against federally mandated integrated schools. OOMMMMMM Taking a deep cleansing breath.
After seeing everyone in red, white, and blue yesterday my opinion has softened. That style of dressing is not right for me but so many of those attired in patriotic garb looked very happy. So whats the harm? Fashion police can take a day off.
The larger question is the carbon footprint of all the big (and fantastic) fireworks shows.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I wear red and white on Canada day - yeah, it’s cheesy but it’s okay to be cheesy on holidays! I do think wearing an actual flag as a garment is disrespectful though.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:43 am
When people get over the top and where red, white and blue everything (like hair ties, socks and undergarments etc.) that is kind of cheesy but i kind of like layering a red and white tank tops and wearing jeans with it. It’s kind of fun to be patriotic once in a while.
As for wearing a flag I think that is disrespectful. Especially when you are wearing pants or an ultra skimpy flag bathing suit.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I don’t think the flag itself should be worn as an article of clothing. Period. I don’t mind flags worn on Tshirts in celebration. I don’t mind happy combinations of people’s national colours worn to celebrate their independence days/national holidays. And I dearly love a chance to dress in something historical, so I’m all for that, as well.
Would I ever wear the holiday sweaters over which so many fashion pundits shudder? I don’t think it’s likely. But I’ve seen an awful lot of happy people wearing them, and I’m not about to say anything mean to them about it, myself. If the clothes help contribute to Teh Happy, I’m all for it. (Pajamas, go back to bed; I wasn’t talking to you.)