If you wake up and find a flag outside your house, don’t worry. You are probably in America (if unsure check the flag on the CIA website).

Obviously we had seen the specially marked hole for a flag pole when we moved in:

And we knew about the idea of displaying the flag on holiday weekends. So this being President’s Day weekend it was no big surprise to see flags appearing in our neighborhood.

But where did our flag come from? Well it turns out that the local High School offers a service where they put out a flag for you for a small fee. The previous owners must have already paid and hence our flag was delivered and put on display.

It is highly recommended to have someone to set up your flag. The number of rules and regulations is mind-boggling. Take a look here at The Flag Code.

Interestingly the local High School created national news in 2010 when a student, frustrated that the Mexican flag was apparently being displayed higher than the Star Spangled Banner, took it down and tossed it in the trash can. He was suspended for three days for theft (the flag belonged to a fellow student). One year later he was interviewed by local news about the incident:

Flags and National Anthems are a big part of American life. Every event, no matter how small (even the local swim meet), starts with everyone facing the Stars and Stripes and singing the Star Spangled Banner. Like here, at the Aggies game:

In England, there is a proud tradition of flag waving, but for somewhat different reasons: