Patriotic Brits

My husband is so patriotic that we have a HUGE US flag that currently hangs on our living room wall and when the World Cup (USA v. England in particular) was on we had it hanging in our window *it covered the whole thing* so the entire neighbourhood could see it...Oh He's English btw

We have words other than 'patriotic' for people like that.  

doesn't understand why Americans identify themselves as "Irish-American," "Italian-American," etc.  

Because most of America's immigration history is relatively recent.

My husband is not exactly proud of being English, but he is very conscious of it, and much more ambivalent about his identity as "British."  He objects to foreign-descended people who call themselves English rather than British, and doesn't understand why Americans identify themselves as "Irish-American," "Italian-American," etc.  Issues of ethnicity and nationality do seem to be rather more fraught here than in the US, where everyone born there is American, and while ancestry and ethnicity define us, they define us less than American defines us.  I think that even people who consider themselves some sort of hyphen American identify more with other Americans of the same ancestry rather than the people who live in the original country.  I may be talking through my hat here, but my impression has always been that people who call themselves "Irish-American," for example, mean to identify themselves with the group of Irish-descended people in America, not with the actual Irish in Ireland.  That's what my husband can't seem to grasp, and in my experience it is different in the UK.  Here, when people say they are Welsh, they actually mean they come from Wales, not that they are descended from Welsh people.  Just my observation . 

I think in general,the individual pride has been replaced by the British thing. I never really got the whole 'Irish American' thing either

I think in general,the individual pride has been replaced by the British thing. I never really got the whole 'Irish American' thing either

I dunno.  I kind of like it!  It's distinctly American and multicultural at the same time.  Recently there was a three part series on BBC (you can still catch in on BBC i-player, I think) about Irish Americans who traced their ancestry back to Northern Ireland and how they took a group trip there to see where their ancestors came from and to try and trace their ancestry even further.  It's a perfect example of the way some Americans identify with both their American-ness and the country of their forefathers and foremothers.

Because most of America's immigration history is relatively recent.

True. Also even here in London when people ask where I'm from, I say that I'm American. Then they usually ask, 'what kind of American?' I think people have this conception that the US is young compared to other nations and does not have a true culture or true history. Don't get me started on that...but I think people also have the idea that being American means that you came from somewhere else and thereby it's an extra or blank identity.

Agreed about this lot,but then again they are a minority...

So are the Tea Party people. They are just loud like the EDL, so they get on the news.

I find the rain and fog quite refreshing in some ways. When i was in Australia the sun was unbearable and quite boring. The UK actually has a similar forecast to many parts of europe,its just that the media says otherwise. The fog gives a good atomosphere. I was in Corfe Castle in Dorset and the fog gave the ruins a really cool atmosphere, plus i could hear the steam trains in the distance it was really enchanting.

Fog and rain can be a bloody nightmare to forecast though... they've been the bain of my existence for the last 4 months !

Do i? cripes that wasnt what i wanted!! but i do agree,i think British people (as a whole) are more quiet and reserved about their love of their country than say us.

To be honest, I don't really feel any major love or hate for my country (England) - it's my home and always will be, but at the same time I don't wake up thinking: 'I love my country, it's the best in the world' or anything like that. It is what it is... it's not perfect, but it's not the worst place in the world either - however, it is the country that I call home and it always will be.

I'm happy to call myself English...British.. Bristolian... whatever - doesn't really matter to me .

Why would people in England celebrate St. David's Day?  Hardly anyone here even celebrates St. George's Day.

True - I don't even remember when St. George's Day is, let alone St. David's Day, and I'm English, born and raised .

Here, when people say they are Welsh, they actually mean they come from Wales, not that they are descended from Welsh people.  Just my observation . 

Definitely - I define myself as being English... it just so happens that I am also a little bit Welsh and a little bit Scottish (my Mum is Scottish and my dad's father was Welsh), but who cares about that?

And why should we (as a day for England)?  He wasn't even English - he was from Turkey or Syria or Palestine or somewhere like that?  Now I could go for a multicultural celebration involving food from those places! 

Now Yorkshire Day - there's a day to celebrate!  Although of course, people in Yorkshire are known for being rather understated in their pride of county (god's own). 

My hubby is an EXTREMELY proud Yorkshireman and is quick to point out the vastly superior qualities of Yorkshire.   

He is proud to be British but I think it's in the (sweeping generalization here) typical quiet British way.  Not too showy.  He absolutely cannot fathom why people here chant "U-S-A, U-S-A" at the top of their lungs and say things like "God Bless USA, the greatest nation on earth"  - it's just so in-your-face and that is not like him at all (nor any of his friends or family)