I have mine up year around. It seems to be gaining importance to many as our nation faces some real problems. Most everyone in the neighborhood has one up year round. More so than Christmas lights. I think everyone is more conscious of what we have long taken for granted.

Ours is up all year.

Ours is up almost all year too. DH put up the large one for this weekend.

Yes, I just put a small flag out today. I remember after the 9-11 attacks, I desperately wanted to see a flag and there were none. It seems that they had all disappeared even from businesses.

Yes! It's up all year.

Bought a new flag this year. Mine is up all year.

Ours is up all year! The neighborhood POA puts out medium size ones at each mailbox for the 4th.

I was born on the 4th of July (while my dad was away at Army Reserve summer camp, he served 30 years) and I was also in the Army Reserve. I started flying a flag full time at the start of the Gulf War (1990).

I have a few small ones inside. I love the look of them outside and especially on large poles.

Happy Birthday tomorrow, Allison!

Nope, I would never fly a flag.

We have one at our beach house, but not at our full-time house. Not sure why, other than we are usually at our beach house on Memorial Day (when we put it up) and 4th of July. We don't keep it up year round, pretty much just for the summer.

Oly, I'm just curious -- why not?

We drape red/white/blue bunting across the farmer's porch at our home and across our front yard patio at the lake.

Happy Birthday, Allison!

Just received a message from DS from overseas. It appears my DIL is in labor. We may be having a July 4th granddaughter!

We put one up a few years ago and then our neighbor across the street put one up (he's always trying to one-up us it seems!) and then I noticed that several more houses on our block have started putting them up.

Ours is up all year also. I had to buy a new one as our old one was getting ratty-the new one I got at Costco and it's a very nice one. I'm hanging on to the old one until I can either get it to a Boy Scout troop or the VFW for proper disposal.

Kind of sort of:

These were taken for Memorial Day. I dress the place for a patriotic summer every year. "HOME of the FREE because of the BRAVE"!!

Congrats on the grandbaby, amck2! Thanks for the bday wishes!

Ours is out all year, and our neighborhood puts small ones at every home. Love them.

Yes! I put it out for the long weekend (and Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Flag Day, etc.). About half my street has one.

Sueb, I just have thoughts and feelings about flags flying on residences that preclude me from doing it - but I don't want to insult those who choose to, nor get into a discussion about what I believe is patriotic.

No, we don't have a flag holder. I like that milk jug, and I like the look of bunting, but we don't have a front porch. I think they would look weird on the side rails coming up the steps.

I put a flag up on Memorial Day and says up all summer. I now you should bring it in at night, but it's too much trouble. I just like the summery look of it. I have some other patriotic decorations but forgot to put them out this year. My neighbor made a flag pole from the mast of his old sailboat. It's huge. There are two flags, one an American flag and I can't figure out the other one. Have to wait for a good breeze to get a look at it.

This is an interesting FAQ on the flag I just found from the American Legion site.

http://www.legion.org/flag/faq

I used to, all of the time but times change.

I consider myself to be patriotic but, to me, the flag and what it truly stands for has been claimed by too many groups and people that I don't want to be associated with and it no longer represents MY inclusive America, the America that I love, so I can't in good conscience fly it - these are just my personal feelings.
I'll show my patriotism by being a (I hope) good, kind, thoughtful, and generous citizen of this country - no symbolism needed.

"Patriotism is love for a country, not just pride in it"

I think I'll keep doing both. :-)

Nope. Used to fly one many years ago but it's not something I care to do now.

Happy Birthday Allison !!

I decided to wear a flag tshirt this weekend vs flying one on my house. The vocal support from random strangers makes me happy. I painted my nails red, white & blue too, even a man complimented me!

I love the flag, always have, always will. Though I don't understand nor agree, I completely respect the opinions or feelings of others who choose not to. I also don't like a lot of what's transpiring in this country right now, both politically and socially but IMO rejecting our flag and what it is supposed to stand for essentially says they win and well, screw that!

ETA: Jenspensetrop I love the message of that video, but it's easy (at least for me) to both take pride in this country and to love it's diversity. Displaying of the flag is just part of it.

I'm not a flag-waving patriot, but I fully realize how fortunate I am to live in the USA!

I don't fly the flag out of laziness and lack of need to display my patriotism. I didn't wear a flag lapel pin or put a Support the Troops sticker on my car after 9/11 because those were givens with me. I get goosebumps when I hear the National Anthem or see our flag in a ceremony. For me, patriotism is about realizing the USA's tremendous history and what others did to bring this country forth and defend it. I marvel at the intellect of our forefathers. Where I live, I am surrounded by Civil War sites. Hearing the stories of what people did at that juncture in history to save this country from being pulled apart takes my breath away.

Idaclair, I specifically didn't ask for reasons from you or any one else that chooses not to display a flag because I do respect that other's may and often do feel differently than I (we) do and that's ok. It doesn't make you or me or anyone else a bad person.

Lukki, I decided to delete my comments after giving this more thought. It wasn't my intent to take your thread in an unwanted direction, and I hope you know I meant no offense.

Hope you and yours had a lovely day!

Kind of ironic this discussion took place on July 4th!

We live on a large lake year round and fly both a US flag and an Earth flag at all times. We also have a rainbow flag, the Jolly Rodger, several state flags and Tibetian prayer flags that are flown at various times, depending on the weather and my ambition level. Despite being a progressive, leftie super liberal who holds disgust and hate in my heart for many of the US elected officials, I believe in the US and believe we as a nation could (and should) do much better in terms of how we treat the rest of the world, women, LGBTQ persons, minorities, the poor, immigrants and prisoners (to name a few), I keep going back to what my late father always said "Our system is flawed, but it's the best there is, and only the laziness of our citizens will cause it to fail". Personally I think a few more Scandanavian principles would be in order, but overall, I have to agree with him, take marriage equality, which only a few years ago seemed far from our grasp, now is the law of the land. And that's why I fly the flag.

Idaclair, I'm sorry if my response made you feel that way, it really wasn't my intent. Although I was surprised by some of the responses, I found it really interesting because they are perspectives I'd never even considered. I honestly didn't think you were taking the thread in an unwanted direction at all, I just didn't want you to feel like you HAD to explain yourself because you didn't.

I'm sorry Lukki, I never answered your question. Yes, we have the American flag up. We fly it quite often, although not all the time. I love my decorative flags and sometimes swap them out with the American flag. I use a garden flag in the back, just off the patio area so I can enjoy it too.

We don't fly the American flag to show we are patriotic, we fly it because we love this country and we want to honor those who fought for our freedoms.

Another one who does not, for very similar reasons to those already mentioned above.

Thanks for the response Tina, the word patriotic never came to mind when I wrote the thread. It was more about the love we have for the country and wanting to say that with so much going on. After seeing all the responses about being patriotic, I thought, hmm, maybe I'm missing something so I looked it up and found this, which is true for me, so I guess I'll take it.

"Respect for the country's flag, a desire to see your nation succeed, and a deep, abiding love of your country are all patriotic expressions, but being patriotic doesn’t mean you think your country’s perfect — just that you love it."

Lukkiirish, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Hard to believe some have issues with that.

My retiring law enforcement DH is former military and was in charge of his department's Honor Guard for many years, where he presented colors at much too many officers' funerals. We have a deep, abiding respect for the flag in our family.

He was presented with a folded flag during a moving ceremony at his last roll call a few weeks ago, and we'll probably display it near his deceased (veteran) father's folded flag in our home.

This is how we display the flag over the pool during our annual 4th of July celebration with friends and family :)

I planted a bed of flowers with red and white stripes with blue accent this year. We also wrap the trunks of the trees with red and white streamers. Mom puts up the old flag that c a me with the house from 1963. I always like bunting on a porch.

I planted a bed of flowers with red and white stripes with blue accent this year. We also wrap the trunks of the trees with red and white streamers. Mom puts up the old flag that c a me with the house from 1963. I always like bunting on a porch.

We don't get preachy about it, but flying the colors on National holidays has been a way for us to note and discuss the symbolism of those days with our kids and now, grandkids. It helps distinguish them from just being a long weekend for cookouts and family fun.

Two of my granddaughters on the 4th