Allegiance to a Flag
A notable cultural difference between the United States and Germany—which I had heard about and later confirmed when I visited Germany in the summer of 2016—is in our attitude towards flags. In the United States, flags are everywhere: in our schools, in our government buildings, in our post offices, sometimes displayed across people's houses. The Washington Monument ( pictured ) in Washington, D.C., has no less than 50 U.S. flags surrounding it, one for each U.S. state. In Germany, on the other hand, you will rarely ever see the black, red, and gold of the German flag in your everyday life. The Germans are much warier than Americans of excessive expressions of national pride—particularly because of their dark history with nationalism. Aside from major sporting events (where the Germans will go all out in support of their national team, flags included), I did not encounter in Germany nearly the same level of ubiquity that the American flag seems to enjoy here in the United States. ...