France and the United States: Borrowed and Shared National Symbols Page: 18
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saving the flag in battle or capturing the enemy's flag was heroism" (Ibid.). In the
twentieth century, some might say that Americans' love for their flag bordered on
vexillatry, or flag worship (Ibid.).
French philosopher, journalist, activist, and filmmaker Bernard-Henri L6vy
explains his first encounter with America and its patriotism in his book, American
Vertigo, detailing his journey to the United States in the hopes of discovering, in
essence, what makes modern America tick. He is almost immediately struck by
what he calls "a riot of American flags, at crossroads, on building fronts, on car
hoods, on pay phones.., on beach umbrellas, on parasols, on bicycle
saddlebags-everywhere, in every form;" he also calls it "an epidemic of flags
that has spread throughout the city" (L6vy 21). L6vy is taken aback by this
"obsession with the flag," as he sees it, comparing it to his account of modern
French sentiment toward the Tricolor.
It's incomprehensible for someone who, like me, comes from a country
virtually without a flag-where the flag has, so to speak, disappeared;
where you see it flying only in front of official buildings; and where any
nostalgia and concern for it, any evocation of it, is a sign of an
attachment to the past that has become almost ridiculous (L6vy 22).
From my own American perspective, I would venture to say that such an intense
display of patriotism as was seen by L6vy in 2004 was largely a product of the
influx of patriotic sentiments in post-9/11 America in addition to the fact that it
was an election year. These sentiments have since dissipated to some degree,
though in some ways are still thriving throughout America today.
L6vy's testimony of modern French mentalities toward his flag appears to
be somewhat accurate. Unlike in the United States, there is no Pledge of18
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Crawford, Katlyn Marie. France and the United States: Borrowed and Shared National Symbols, thesis, May 2011; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc67971/m1/22/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .