Flying the Flag

I think I may have put my foot in it last night. The Major and I were round for dinner at a new friend's house. She runs a stables, he is something to do with defence - lovely people, lovely place.

Anyway, post-dinner and over coffee we got talking about 'yard art' - how some people seem to think it's really classy to fill their gardens with life-sized sculptures/statues of all and sundry (c.f. the giant, malevolent-looking blowup Grinch I spotted in one yard over Christmas). All very funny and we were having a good laugh, but then I said - "and round us, some people have full-on flagpoles with spotlights to light the flags up at night!"

Silence.

It turns out that in America, if you fly a flag outside your property (which most people round here do, mainly being the patriotic ex-military types), you either have to lower it at sundown or make sure it is lit - legally. If your flag gets old or tattered meanwhile, or accidentally gets dropped on the floor, you have to burn it.

America is serious about its flag. You have the pledge of allegiance in schools, the aforementioned legalities concerning the flying - and of course, those who fly the flag upside down if they're protesting against something, which always causes a great furore.

I find it all faintly amusing, not to mention quite ridiculous, but think from now on I'd better shut up on my views about flags. Along with religion, politics, sex.... Not a lot I can talk about these days.