"The really interesting thing is how many of these flag-fetishists also pursue an ahistorical, illogical brand of Christianity. If you ever want to have fun at the expense of such a person, ask them how frequently they salute the flag, accuse them of idolatry, and quote the First Commandment. Repeat as necessary, until a light bulb appears over their heads."
....or not. It seems to me that this hysterical patriotic/xtian stuff is intertwined. It's the hysterical insistence of the inhabitants of a settler state that they have a blessed right to be there.
Most "patriotic" sentiment I experienced in Europe was still of a regional (not national) sort.
But certainly, I never experienced any flag waving, flag saluting crap in France or Romania.
I mean sure, there was the May day parade once a year with the obligatory posters of Marx, Engels, and Lenin. But that was about the extent of it.
Joanna