simon

Why do Canadians wear their flag on their rucksacks? I always found that a bit strange as you lot fancy yourselves a less nationalistic bunch than the Yanks.

Bean

Many people who aren't from North America have a tendancy to assume that we are all from the USA. As you can tell from other threads on this board, Canadians DO NOT want to thought of as Americans rather as Canadians. So they wear the flag to let people, who would have otherwise considered them American, know that they are a Canadian.

johnny canuck

We don't "fancy" ourselves a less nationalistic lot than the "Yanks". In facy I suspect most Canucks would wish we were a little more nationalistic. We only become that way when we are mistaken for American or if an international hockey tournament is being played. The Maple Leaf is worn to distinguish us from American but beware,some Americans now wear the Maple leaf when overseas to hide the fact that they are from the US.

simon

You don't want to be seen as Americans? I've met loads of both and without wanting to offend people, there doesn't seem to be much of a difference to me. What would you describe as differences?

Bean

I know... can you believe that. Americans are so proud of who they are and then as soon as leave home they are pretending to be someone else. And not just anyone else...someone they patronize all the time and think that we want to be like them.

Bean

P.S ~ My last message was intended as a response to Johnny's message...

traveller

God! <BR>Another useless flag question. Really OP, if you want to troll can you not find a questions that is more original than this one? <BR><BR>Let this one go people!

Final

I am a dual..American and Canadian..I love both countries..but I have to admit that when travelling, if I say that I am Canadian, I get a fantastic reaction.

simon

What on earth is a troll? From Traveller's tone, I suspect that it's some kind of insulting behaviour, as I'm a little surprised that you would make a newcomer so unwelcome. However, I have a question. Maybe it's not an important one or one that directly relates to travel, but nonetheless I am interested in a sincere answer. It is obvious that people feel strongly about this and you must admit that on the surface, it appears to be a rather strange habit. At least it would appear that there are a few Canadians here who are kind enough to respond. To Traveller: what is it that you're trying to avoid, exactly? To Bean: I don't think that I've ever met an American who tried to be Canadian, but I've met a few who wanted to be a Jock or an Irishman.

traveller

Simon, do you know how many times this same really stupid question has been asked and answered? I suspect not, given your reply.<BR><BR>But I also suspect that you know what a troll is. Really, if you don't then I apoligize.

Robyn

Troll or not, I don't care. I bite. Simon uses different e-mail addresses each time. Why? I'm not sure. Anyhow...<BR><BR>Troll = someone who wants to stir up trouble, usually someone posing as a naive tourist, by asking a sensative question which usually turns into a battle. It's usually someone having their own fun, playing around with the genuine posters. They want a reaction - an emotional reaction is better.<BR><BR>The Canadian flag question keeps on popping up all the time, hence people assuming you're a troll hoping to bother the Canadians, because a lot of people put Canada down for wearing the flag in the first place. In actuality, I find it's the backpackers who wear it. Some Canadians wear the flag so they're not assumed to be an "ugly American", ignorant to the world. Some people are truly patriotic and wear it to show others where they're from. In all honesty, I think a lot of people are wearing it nowadays on their backpacks because every other Canadian is doing it, it's now some sort of tradition... and you'll get people saying, "Oh wow, you're going on a trip to X country? Be sure to wear a Canadian flag!", etc. I used to think nothing of it. What I find funny are how some Americans complain about seeing the odd Canadian flag on a backpackers backpack... when I find, after all my visits to the USA, they're the ones who thrive on flag-waving!<BR><BR>Anyhow, back to the troll issue, an equivalent troll-ish question would be if I were to go to an Irish or Scotish travel board and ask the question, "What's the difference between an Irish person and an English person? They both seem like they're the same to me."<BR><BR>Or "When I went to Scotland, each time I told them I thought they were the same as the British, they seem so offended. There's nothing wrong with England."<BR><BR>Mistaking a Canadian for an American is equivalent to mistaking a Scot/Irish person to an English person. <BR><BR>Troll questions usually try to liven up a feud or a rivalry. Unfortunately, some get rather ugly as you can see by that moronic "Why would you want to live in Canada?" question.

xxx

The simple answer to this question is why so many Americans wear Canadian flags when they are travelling. Americans are hated abroad. Whether or not this hatred is reasonable or not is not the issue. If someone is known to be American in Europe, sometimes they will be treated poorly but Canadians on the other hand often get very nice receptions. Since Canadians do sound and dress like Americans, we don't want to be labelled as such for these reasons.

cj

You folks need to get your collective hand off it. The Scots/ English analogy is poor. Hundreds of years of old-fashined colonial occupation and forceful eradication of culture between these countries is not even close to the US's relationship with Canada. Are there any reasonable Canadians around? The bigotry on this board from the polite, yet horribly prejudiced types is insufferable. Funnier still, I would have thought that travel forums would attract more "open-minded" people. I guess not.

xxx

cj, I agree with you that the scots/enlgish analogy was in poor taste, but if you take a good look at international and foreign affairs from a "non-biased American perspective," America is an empire. It does not have colonies, but it has the power to influence world events to their own liking. If it does not go their way, they threaten to pull support/troops/arms/funding.... For America to be in this unique position leads to the American arrogance that most foreigners hate, which is why Americans may get poor service abroad while Canadians will be welcomed with a smile.

NotATroll

Do you actually think that those Americans who say they

ohlook

OhLook -- American notatroll got eaten up by a jealous Canadian mid-sentence!

cj

xxx, I fail to see what you consider American arrogance. We are the descendants of the world's piss-poor and regardless of how people would like to categorize us, arrogance is not part of the American ethos. America is an empire who's "colonies" are largely willing participants in terms of cultural imports. What amazes me is that the Canadians here see so many differences and that these differences render you worthy of a warm welcome and us worthy of contempt. That seems to me a very naive way to look at the world.

Farrah

I wear my Canadian flag sometimes. I wear it not to be mistaken for an American. If I am by myself then I don't wear it. If I am with an American or fellow Canadian, I may wear it. When I am with my German better half, we speak German and I don't wear it. When I am with my sister, we speak French and I don't wear it. If I am in a big city such as Paris, Brussels, Lisbon, etc. .., then I won't wear my flag. But I was in Beirut, Lebanon (WONDERFUL CITY - so cosmopolitan, surprisingly, historical, great food, amazing services, great shopping, great beaches) with a Lebanese friend (I was on the Christian side so I perhaps didn't see a lot) and I chose to wear my Canadian flag only because I was a little nervous since while I was there, the 9/11 thing happened. I also spoke French in Beirut at all shops, the Lebanese are quite fluent in French. The unfortunate truth is that Americans aren't really liked in the world by many due to the fact that they are a superpower --- it is a love/hate relationship between the world and Americans. I don't have to go into what happened in Lebanon with the U.S. soldiers. <BR>The Romans, the Turks, the Ottoman Empire and the Russians were all over thrown. History speaks for itself, the U.S. will have it's time and in the future, perhaps it will be the EU that will be "not liked?"<BR>To put things more simply, I don't mind being mistaken for an American if it doesn't even slightly endanger my safety one little bit. This may sound silly, but I just feel safer with the Canadian flag on.

xxx

Cj,<BR><BR>I just don't see it that way. From what I have heard from many friends living in Europe and from my own European travel experiences as a whole is that by large, Europeans resent American domination of the world's marketplace influenced by McDonalds, pop music etc... They furthermore reject the idea that the United States is the best protector of freedoms around the world given your nation's history vis a vis poorer nations, latin American nations and putting fascist dictators into power there. This is not in dispute. Arrogance may have not been original in the American ethos, but it is alive and well today. How else would you define arrogance when a country such as the US call tell other countries what foreign policies they should take on, how the US will penalize them economically if they don't follow the American way, but when Americans are given advice on how to change or better policy, they are simply labelled as Eurowimps and Eurowhiners. If someone disagrees with American policy, they are labelled as communist, terrorist, subversive. The typical American response to such suggestions (as has been seen on many postings here on fodors is), if they don't agree with us, we'll just bomb the heck out of them OR where would you be without the US, you'd all be speaking German without us. Come on. If that isn't arrogance, what is?

Liam

I see no problem with Canadians wearing a maple leaf out of national pride, nor do I see a problem with Canadians wearing a maple leaf so that they aren't targeted for international abuse.<BR><BR>What I find appalling, though, is that some idiots overseas would mistreat a tourist simply because of policies decided in his or her government. I take issue with the politics of Iran, China, Cuba, and a few other countries, but I would never treat one of their nationals with disrespect just because he is Iranian, or Chinese, or Cuban. Nor should it be acceptible for vendors, waiters, etc. to mistreat Americans because Bush reneged on Kyoto. THAT'S arrogance.