this is an old chestnut. Don't roast it, throw it out

I always see Canadian flags on luggage and for the longest time thought "wow, those Canadians really get around" but then it turned out that most of them were Americans posing as Canadian to not get "busted." I am not a flag or patch person at all, though I do like me a nice pin and am gunning for one from Fodors. . .

What is this? Don't ask, don't tell?

Following the Tour de France every year we carry our flags everywhere. Because everyone wears or flies their "Colors" having the flag out has been a wonderful conversation starter, and people have been very welcoming and kind to us.

Having said that, I will also say that even when we are in areas far from the days tour route, we have been welcomed warmly, when people found out we were Americans.

Never fear letting people know who you are and where you are from, most likely they will ask if you know their sisters son who has a restaurant in Chicago, "he's a very good cook, you should try it".

One problem with the Maple Leaf ploy is that Europeans are on to it, and are as likely to think you're another stupid American as a Canuck.

I wear an American flag pin on the lapel of my jacket every day in the States. When I travel to Europe I do not do so because I do not want to provoke some moron in to a confrontation.

Let me add I would not be shy in France, for example, in calling the attention of an American flag burner to the American cemetery at Colville-sur-Mer in Normandy.

Americans need not wave the flag in Europe. The deeds of our forefathers speak for themselves.

Anthony
Anthony

This goes back to my first visit to Germany, as a student back in the late 60's.

I've got this little Maple Leaf on my jacket and this elderly lady spots it. She gets really emotional, tears, hugs, kisses on the cheeks...the whole nine yards.

Kind of a touching scene.
It took me about 5 minutes to realise the B*tch had pickpocketed my wallet.

A true story.

??? What makes you think you'll see American flags burning in France??

What I remember is a gentleman in Bordeaux grabbing the end of the flag I had on my shoulders and kissing it.

Many Europeans are well aware that people walking around with Canadian flags on their backpacks are actually American, so you're not fooling anyone, and you're proving to the rest of the world that at least some Americans are cowards who cheerfuly deny their nationality.

guaranteed, the band was The Tragically Hip. Something about "If there's a goal that everyone remembers, it was back in old '72 ... "

Anselm

Canadians are often mistaken for Americans in Europe. I am Canadian but I don't wear a Canadian flag when I travel in Europe as I feel that all I'm saying is that I'm not American and personally I think that's rude to our American neighbours.

Anyone who is embarrassed/ashamed/fearful about being recognized for who they are is not a candidate for travel.

Waving your national flag while abroad is, as far as most of us are concerned, a real loser's thing to do. Football supporters. Nationalist extremists. Englishmen going up the Amazon on a one-wheeled cycle. That sort of thing.

Rationally, we know Canadians are just trying to say they're not American, so - since we really, really, don't care - we ought just to dismiss them as having an exaggerated sense of their own importance.

In practice, however unfair it might be, we tend to lump them in with the other flag wavers: Ulster Unionists, Lazio supporters or Polish skinheads.

Not company most of us would care to be in.

But somehow, I don't really think these maple leaf fetishists have the remotest interest in what anyone else thinks.

"Canadian Flags on your backpack"

Just how tacky is that?

I'm sorry if I was misunderstood. I don't go around waving an American flag, but I was trying to indicate that there are times when it can be flown freely and openly, as when others are displaying their country's flag at sporting events. The olympics are a prime example as is any other sporting event that has participants from all over the world.

For general travel, I don't usually carry or wear anything that would indicate my nationality. I am not ashamed of it, I just don't see the need to wear it on my lapel.

You just now heard that it is a good idea? People were telling me to put a Canadian flag on my luggage in the early 80's. One trip I used a Tongan flag just for a conversation starter.

" when i see Canadians/Canadiens abroad wearing them i actually take offense that they are saying "we're not Americans" - makes me want to vomit actually"

Would never have occurred to me that wearing a flag would cause such a violent reaction!

Celticharper,
Im with you. I carry nothing that would indicate what country I am from. I dont even own any flags or pins.

>One trip I used a Tongan flag
So how do you like Nuku'alofa. Not much to see there but the surrounding islands are beautiful.

I really have always wanted to visit Tonga. I was using the flag to identify my luggage from the crowd too. It worked.

I used to put stickers from every country I visited on my hard-sided luggage, not for wanting to hide my Americanism just for decoration.