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Flags Are In Style in England

The flag industry might have always been doing brisk business in the United States, but in European countries, especially England, flag-sellers have often had a bit of a rough time at selling their products to a people who are often averse to showing emotion, let alone pride in their country by flying a flag. But as the World Cup has arrived, English flags ? not the U.K. flags, but the red-cross-on-white St. George?s flags (for England?s patron saint) ? are popping up all over English cities and the countryside, leading to a boom-time for flag producers and sellers the likes of which hasn?t been seen for a long time.

You can find American flags all over the place. Visitors to the U.S. from other countries that tend to view flag-waving as too nationalistic or too tacky often return home full of stories of ?all the flags around?. In the U.S., flags fly in front of restaurants, in front of shopping centers, in front of malls, and in front of small businesses and large corporations alike. It may be that shameless flag-flying is a uniquely American pastime, but when it comes to sporting events the flags of many nations are usually seen in greater numbers than normal.

Will the new flag-boom last? The Islamic terror attacks last year in July in the British capital of London that left 52 dead brought out a brief showing of the flag, and that, combined with however well or poorly England does in the World Cup could mean the difference between flag-makers and merchants staying firmly in the black or struggling to find an audience for their object of national identification and pride. Will England ever become as ?flag-horny? a nation as the United States of America? Probably not. But in the meantime, the English and Americans have something in common aside from a long history ? the ordinary folk of both nations are flying flags from their cars.