How common is it to fly your country's flag, and how is it seen by others?

I'm from Spain, it's not uncommon unfortunately, but that's because the flag is appropriated by the right and far right and if you see someone with one you can be 90% sure of the type (homophobe, anti abortion, bullfighting supporter, climate change denier, etc etc)

I am from Germany and no one is raising a flag. Except he is a Nazi. Or it is soccer World Championship.

In Scotland, it tends to indicate your political beliefs. People flying the Union Jack are normally unionists and supporters of the monarchy, whereas people flying the Saltire (Scottish) flag are normally nationalists (pro-independence). It's therefore difficult to fly a flag 'neutrally' unless you were to fly both.

Southeast Brazil: Unless it's the world cup you're assumed to be a shithead

Very common in Mexico during September. Otherwise not that common but also not frowned upon. There's no significance behind it.

My country is a former colony of an imperial power so it's flown all the time to reinforce our feeling of sovereignty

I'm in Canada and would say it's not extremely common, but enough so that I wouldn't think twice if I saw the flag on a house. Maybe one in fifty houses has one.

Sometimes it's on clothing too, but nowhere close to the extent that I've seen the American flag on everything when I've visited. You guys seem to really really like your flag!

We also have provincial flags which people will put on their houses, but the one I see most is for Newfoundland and Labrador, which is a different province than mine. It's arguably close to as common as the Canadian flag.

In the UK it's very unusual unless it's football or royal related. The union flag, the Welsh flag and the Scottish flag are ok most of the time but the England flag is seen as being a bit racist.

From the US, I see American flags everywhere.

Some small towns have a flag on every electrical pole on their main street. It used to just be around Memorial Day and the 4th of July, but a lot of towns seem to be leaving them up year round.

A huge proportion of houses in US suburbs and rural areas have flags flying. If you have wealth or a big chunk of land, it's pretty certain you also have a flag flying or prominently displayed on your property. Less frequent on the porches of more modest homes.

Pickup trucks fly flags (sometimes multiple) attached to their beds. These trucks often also have punisher stickers, human skulls, or "thin blue line" flag stickers on them.

Most medium to large businesses have a flag pole on their campus.

I definitely see fewer flags in cities, but still see a lot of flag stickers on storefront windows, and flags in apartment bedroom windows.

I'm from the western US. It's not unusual here but when I see it I usually assume the person doing it is a weirdo.

It was uncommon in The Netherlands. Except on certain holidays. And when kids get a high school diploma: a flag plus school bag.

But since last year, angry farmers ‘decorated’ the country with flags hung upside down to protest against environmental measures. All kinds of angry right wing people followed.

Austria: not often and I like that. Not a fan of nationalism, so the less visible this is in my life the better. I see flags IRL mainly on government functions and when right wingers parade around, maybe also near football matches, that‘s about it.

I‘d like to think the history with Nazis made it less popular, but the actual amount of far-right voters makes me think I might just live in a happy little bubble and I’d be shocked if I looked into people‘s cellars.

It's weirdly common in Denmark. People fly the national flag for birthdays, and some people even decorate the Christmas tree with flag guirlandes. It's seen as an act of celebration rather than patriotism.

https://tenor.com/bRmME.gif

I'm a New Zealander. I don't see anyone flying a NZ flag in Dunedin, where I live. I may have seen one or two in private residences in my life. Flying flags is weird. Nationalism sucks.

Australian here. Outside of official government uses, it's generally a sign that someone is a racist fuckwit.

Here in Canada (southwestern Ontario, anyway) it's around, but not super common. You see it on government buildings (municipal, provincial, and federal), but that's about it. You don't often see it on people's homes, vehicles, or businesses the way you see in the States, and it's not something you see on merch very often outside of tourist traps or Canada Day.

Except, ironically, for at some of the bigger and more famous American retail chains. Walmart and Home Depot both have a Canadian flag planted firmly in every location, it seems. Maybe because they're so used to flying their own flag in the States that they just assume it's what everyone does everywhere?

German here. No, we don't do that here. (Exceptions: Football World Cup and weird dudes on camp sites or allotment gardens. Usually a sign to avoid the area.) Interestingly, the fascists don't show the German flag, but the one from the Germany before the current one...

Here in Netherlands, it is tradition fly the flag with a backpack hanged on it when you graduate.

Canada: VERY common and considered standard practice, we like to make fun of the Americans for being obsessed with their flag but overall we're just as bad. It's also flown by Nazis as often as the American flag is.

I am from India. It was illegal to fly the flag untill a decade ago. It took a supreme court verdict to get the right to fly the flag in private residences. So it is not common at all. You would see government buildings and some schools hoist the flag every day. In my school it was every Friday. I have walked around suburbs in US and almost every house had a flag in their porch. Very big ones too.

When I went to Norway I counted the flags I saw. I forget the exact number but I saw maybe 6 in the week I was there. Come back to the US I saw at least 20 coming back from the airport.

Here in the Philippines, it's generally around only on government buildings and schools. Some establishments and residences may opt to fly the flag as well, but most of us just don't bother at all.

Generally the flag doesn't have any negative (or positive) connotations. Both the leftists and rightists see the flag equally.

Not all common in South Africa (can't ever remember seeing it at any private residence). Mainly flies at government buildings, and we see it in some clothing designs. It would not mean anything really at a private residences, as we are already all South Africans so what would it really designate?

Australia: Very unusual. I'll see someone doing it maybe once a month and always think "fucking weirdos". It's more common to see Aboriginal flags, but still uncommon

It's more common to see bogans using it as part or their beach or BBQ attire (eg, maybe an Australian flag stubby cooler)

In Australia there are flags at government buildings and very rarely do I see any in personal homes.

UK here. A UK flag is only flown from govt buildings unless it's some royal event or football but then it's usually the individual national flag such as England, Scotland, Wales, etc

The union flag & the St George cross (Englands flag) were co-opted by the far right in the 70s so flying one outside of the occasions named above had other people mark you as a bit of a nationalist & to be weary of you.

Only okay if flown with a pride flag or some other flag supporting oppressed minorities. Questionable a bit, but generally seen as allyship and maybe a political statement.

Otherwise, racist.

American here. When I was in Sweden it felt like their flag was everywhere. Maybe I just noticed it more because I was traveling.

In Brazil I saw their flag plastered on a lot of stuff - clothes, bags, painted on the street - but not so much flying on flag poles.

I see fair amount of US flags here at home, usually at government buildings, cemeteries, and the like. When flown at homes I usually assume the person is on the political right.

Pretty funny that coming from a Norwegian because they still have the flag out many places in my opinion :)
It's actually one of the things that stuck out the most after I had moved there.
Especially at "hytter" (vacation cabins) I think the majority has a flag out.
Same for national day, you'll see a bunch of flags.

Compare that to Belgium, where I'm from. Even on national day it's a rare sight to see a flag.
And it's only very fanatic people that will actually wave it around on the street.

The moment you'll see most flags out is probably during the world cup.

In the UK, you generally don't see people flying the Union Jack unless its a major sporting event, or its a major governmental sort of building.

About 3 days per year I think

As a Texas resident, I see more Texas flags than USA flags. Texas flags are everywhere here.

In Brazil it's more common now mainly because of the far right who appropriated it for themselves. Most will identify a person flying our flag as a Bolsonaro supporter, me personally like to stay clear of them.

I lived in MD for a few years. The flag is everywhere. You can always tell someone from MD, no matter where you are, because the flag is incorporated into their clothing. I've never seen anything like it from anywhere else.

I'm in Illinois, USA, and downstate you see mostly United States flags at businesses and residences (and the occasional confederate battle flag hanging at morons' homes).

What's funny, is that when you get up to Chicago, people there mostly fly the city of Chicago flag over any others.

Here in the UK flags are rare, I don't think there is a single one in the entire village. I think people here on the whole, are intelligent enough to realise rallying behind a picture printed in a piece of cloth doesn't really say or achieve much. It's more something the ruling class encourage to distract you from their meddling in/with your life.

In Germany, official government buildings will have the flag on or in front of it, usually next to a bunch of other (eu, county, city...).

Private citizens will fly the flag for sports reasons, or in more right-wing communities they'll fly either the official flag or the old black-white-red one from empire times. Most people will look at you funny for flying the flag when no sports or eurovision are/is going on.
There is really very little "neutral" ground here.

Here in Portugal, unless there's a national football team game, or some otherwise nationwide event going on, it's rare seeing it. There's some merch-like items with our flag and "branding", but it's mostly tourists.

CGP Grey made a YouTube video on proper US state flag design etiquette that I personally agree with. Spoiler alert, most states failed the test.
https://youtu.be/l4w6808wJcU

I'm from Indiana and we're more likely to see our national flag instead of our state flag here, but Indiana isn't known for much anyway.

In Germany its pretty much only Nazis, Rightwing people and the Bundeswehr, so also often right wing people

I am from a small town in the US but live near a nepali community. Many of them have flags inside their homes or on their desks but not outdoors. They are usually super proud that they have the most unique national flag shape, and I love that for them. I am curious if it is the same in their home country as well!

Burger here. You're considered a freak if you don't have a flag flying. Then again, I do live in a white suburb.

Northern Germany here. The German flag is usually only flown at government or other public buildings or, as another commenter said, when there's a special occasion such as an international football match.

Something a bit more common up here seems to be flying the state flag (blue, white and red), which can be seen in private gardens or on some residential buildings.

I am from western MA, USA. Other than outside of government buildings, I can't recall when the last time I saw a flag was. Occasional flag bumper stickers are a thing, but actual, flying flags? Not really.

In Canada it’s traditionally only been around sporting events, mostly hockey. In the last maybe 10 years or so, though, it’s gotten a lot more common, mostly because of nationalist assholes. It’s at the point now where if someone is flying it and there isn’t a Canadian team playing in something, I assume the person is a piece of shit.

US here. There are, of course, flags flown on at government buildings and those most often also include the state flag as well.

Flying an American flag personally definitely identifies you as someone who leans right-wing, and I think that's unfortunate because I quite like flags in general and would probably have a many different flags to display at different times (including the American flag at times) depending on the time of year.

Somewhat common in Brazil, but nowadays the nationalistic far rights are the only ones who fly it

In Spain it's extremely common to hang the flag on your balcony, especially since the pandemic. It's also quite common to see younger people wearing bracelets of the spanish flag. I'm not really a fan of it but most people don't do it for political reasons, it's just nornalized, so I can't really blame them.

It's very uncommon in France (except if a big event is going on). And if I see someone fly the flag, my first thought would be that they are a far right nationalist.

In my country we fly our flag when we win important football matches.