It is a striking paradox that often the people most inclined to wave their national flag are also those most prone to disrespecting their country.
The sea of American flags that provides the habitual backdrop for rallies in support of Donald Trump is an obvious example of this phenomenon. Trump’s followers, even as they further assert their professed love of the US with chants of “USA, USA”, seem unaware of the irony that they are calling for the return to power of a man who has shown contempt for US democracy, who disrespects its courts, who mocks its values and who disdains its allies.
Boris Johnson was a great man for being photographed with union jacks. He worked assiduously to identify his political persona with his country’s flag, including by pulling buffoonish stunts like getting stuck on a zip line with a British flag in each hand.
Johnson’s love of the UK and its flag was so overwhelming that he later sought to prorogue its parliament, flouted its essential public health rules and, according to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee, not only misled its parliament but intended to do so. His Brexit buddy Nigel Farage, another great aficionado of union jacks during his pitiful stint at the European Parliament, joined Johnson in diminishing Britain’s interests and reputation through the Brexit fiasco.
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In Ireland, we have also sadly become accustomed to the phenomenon of our flag being brandished in circumstances that disrespect our country and its values, even if those who so inappropriately flaunt the Tricolour consider themselves “patriots”. One thinks, for example, of the flag appearing at the Dublin riots in November and at demonstrations by the far-right. The presence of Irish flags at some anti-immigrant protests has precisely nothing to do with love of Ireland, knowledge of our history or appreciation of our values.
When different flags fly side by side, they acquire a new meaning. They are transformed from being an assertion of difference into a symbol of friendship
We also recall those darker years when the Irish flag was paraded by people who refused even to recognise the State and courts, or to respect our democracy and its institutions. We are fortunate that that period of our history is now in the past and should give credit to everyone who made that transformation possible.
Why, one wonders, do people across different countries feel the need to flaunt their national flag when doing so is at variance with the disrespect or indifference they manifest towards the complex reality of their own country. The reasons may,differ from one case to another.
One factor could be the ability, indeed the need, of some people to convince themselves that their country is better than other countries. If all the focus is on “Making America Great”, as in Trump’s slogan, or on being “world beating”, as in Johnson’s mantra, the national flag becomes a symbol of imagined superiority over others rather than an embodiment of national values.
Another possibility is that the flag becomes an assertion of illusory superiority over others within one’s own society.
Simple arrogance probably plays a part too. If people, in asserting dubious values, know they are in a minority among their fellow citizens, that may strengthen their certitude rather than attenuating it. For others, flag-waving may be a camouflage for self-doubt.
It is entirely right that, like the people of most other countries, we should take great pride in our national flag. But we should always remember that patriotism does not mean waving our flag in others’ faces, either at home or abroad. We must never forget that our flag embraces important values that are a far cry from rioting and arson.
Johnson’s love of the UK and its flag was so overwhelming that he sought to prorogue its parliament, flouted its public health rules and, according to the Parliamentary Privileges Committee, not only misled its parliament but intended to do so
When different flags can comfortably fly side by side, they acquire a new meaning. They are transformed from being an assertion of difference into a symbol of friendship. One thinks of the 27 national flags of the EU member states, as well as of the European flag itself, flying side by side. One thinks of how, during the St Patrick’s week visits by Ministers in the coming weeks, the Irish flag will fly beside so many other national flags, in a web of international friendship.
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On this island over the coming years, whatever the constitutional future holds, the Irish flag and the union jack will have to grow more comfortable in each other’s company, as they had started to do during the half century of Britain and Ireland’s shared membership of the European Union and in the context of Queen Elizabeth’s visit in 2011.
Patriotism, of course, does not always require flags. When I visited Derry City Cemetery last year, it was easy enough to spot several republican graves with their flags and flagpoles. John Hume’s grave required no flag. It simply bears his name and dates, and has a kneeling stone inscribed with the word “Síocháin”.