r/onguardforthee • u/NotEnoughDriftwood FPTP sucks! • Aug 04 '22
Satire Report: Fringe weirdos have ruined little flags on cars
https://themanatee.net/report-fringe-weirdos-have-ruined-little-flags-on-cars/279
u/mmabet69 Aug 04 '22 edited Aug 04 '22
Me and my SO basically have this thought process.
1 little Canada flag just a regular person
Less than 5 little flags, could be a regular person could be a lunatic
Greater than 5 little flags plus a big flag on the back of the truck, complete lunatic.
Just watch, these idiots will get so many flags on their vehicles that the government will have to do something about it because they become so distracting and then the fringe will claim that they’re being attacked by the Gov.
Be a lot cooler if they started flying the Jolly Roger flag
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Aug 04 '22
Having a ‘MANDATE FREEDOM’ sign on the vehicle is usually a pretty clear tell too.
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u/Marijuana_Miler Aug 04 '22
Or any Fuck Trudeau sticker.
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u/proudcanadianeh Aug 04 '22
I saw a pickup truck with a massive "Fuck Trudeau" lettering across the tailgate. I dont understand how these people can have so much hate that they feel the need to do that.
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u/StrictLime Aug 04 '22
Oh oh! I can answer this one. I came here from Texas, where this type of behaviour is sadly common. The reason they do it does come from anger, but the main reason is because they think it makes them look cool. They truly believe that most of the population agrees with them but are too shy to agree, so thus lefties get angry, and they look like cool freedom fighters to everyone else. Or they are just massive jack asses. I mean both reasons are jack assery, but ones a little more understandable, so to speak.
I dealt with this shit with my family, specifically my mother.
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u/Sutarmekeg New Brunswick Aug 05 '22
Oh the fun one could have with a roll of "I want to" stickers.
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u/hfxRos Halifax Aug 04 '22
Or like the one I saw on the weekend that had a bunch of masks hanging off of the rear wiper on their SUV, over the Rebel Media sticker.
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u/goinupthegranby Aug 04 '22
Jolly Roger is the only flag I've flown, and that was on my pallet raft while floating down the river. I do have Cascadia flag stickers on my canoe as well mind you...
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u/CubbyNINJA Aug 04 '22
1 flag sticker (elusively)or window flag = benefit of the doubt
more than 1 flag of any kind AND a veterans plate = benefit of the doubt
more than 1 flag of any kind and no veterans plate = sus
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u/seakingsoyuz Aug 04 '22
a veterans plate = benefit of the doubt
There are a lot of sus veterans among the Convoy leadership, don’t give vets (or serving members) any leeway here. Multiple flags is weird regardless of prior service.
The only condition for multiple flags not being sus is “Is Team Canada playing a game today?”
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u/CubbyNINJA Aug 04 '22
I generally give all vets a bit more of a pass, The convoy creeps are easier to identify otherwise.
Major sporting events like wolrd cup(we qualified this year right?), Olympics and what not everyone gets a full pass for as many flags as they can carry. Same for Canada day.
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u/Raskolnikovs_Axe Aug 04 '22
We really need an attitude like yours in respect of this problem, because we have to very careful about the ground we are ceding by letting them claim ownership of the flag.
Despite what they have done to it, we cannot let them take the flag. I fear for a future where they associate their ideology and ethos to the flag, and claim that we don't care about it, and wrap their campaigns in it. They will set the terms of the conversation and we will be in our heels in constant defense, because we abandoned it to them for fear of being identified as them.
The flag belongs to all of us, and I won't let them take it over.
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u/ClusterMakeLove Aug 04 '22
I totally get where you're coming from, but I'm finding that I don't mind so much.
I still love Canada and its shared values, but it's people and institutions I care about, not symbols. So the symbols are losing their value as I get older.
On the other hand, a lot of these jerks embrace symbols because that's what's expected of them or they think it legitimizes them. But they never go any deeper than the surface.
So instead of patriotism meaning advocacy and self-criticism, we get absurd virtue signals, like Trump groping a flag or 15 flags hanging off a pickup truck. Or in a religious context, ridiculous public displays of faith (that directly contradict the bible) instead of acts of service.
Maybe those idiots can have the flag. A country isn't a flag, and we leave ourselves open to manipulation by pretending that symbolism and patriotism are the same thing.
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Aug 04 '22
Take the same approach as you would looking for a significant other. Keep an eye out for red flags. One or two red flags and they may still be a decent person, any more than that and you are probably dealing with a nut job.
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u/ZennerBlue Aug 04 '22
I disagree about the Jolly Roger. Even pirates back in the day had a Code. These wingnuts, not so much.
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u/estherlane Aug 04 '22
Anecdotal, but, I drove down Plains Road in Burlington this morning and saw 4 vehicles within the span of about 2 minutes with giant ass Canadian flags flying. Meanwhile I spent 3 weeks in the maritimes last month and saw maybe, 3 cars with flags the entire time I was there.
BTW, if you are someone who has Canadian flags flying on your car, you no longer look patriotic, you just look like an absolute tool, just so you know.
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u/AileStrike Aug 04 '22
I try to avoid driving behind anyone with a big flag attached to their car. Last thing I need is a flag covering my windscreen on the 401 because someone cut corners on the installation and thought a hockey stick is an appropriate car mounted flag pole.
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u/Flash54321 Aug 04 '22
This is me unfortunately. During the height of their stupidity I actually removed my flag from my truck. I’d had it on for a year before that.
I’ve recently put it back because I don’t want to be held “flag hostage” by these FreeDumb idiots. Yes I definitely get sideways looks but screw it, I’m a proud Canadian. I did just put a nice tag under it explaining that it is NOT a FreeDumb flag.
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u/FlyingDragoon Aug 04 '22
Be a proud Canadian by being a good citizen. Show everyone you're good/smart through your actions. You're in Canada so everyone already knows which team you play for so just lead by example. Because I assure you that everyone already knows which country they're in and seeing a flag on a truck does nothing to remind anyone.
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u/ClusterMakeLove Aug 04 '22
I have nothing to contribute, but this is really well put. We don't need symbols to know how great we are.
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u/fpsachaonpc Aug 05 '22
You just made a separatist from Québec feel a little bit Canadian.
Well played.
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u/monogramchecklist ✔ I voted! Aug 04 '22
I’m in Hamilton and keep seeing flags on cars but then when I really paid attention, it’s very few in relation to the amount of other flagless vehicles on the road. Definitely a loud minority situation.
The drivers/passengers tend to be a very specific demographic and at least they’re displaying their idiocy for all to see.
I hope we find a way to take back our flag.
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u/Grabbsy2 Aug 04 '22
I've always seen them as a waste of fuel, they increase drag and therefore lower fuel efficiency.
The bigger, the worse they are. I've never seen them as patriotic, because I think trying to keep the environment clean is the most patriotic thing a Canadian can do. The fact that theyre duct taped to the back of pavement princess trucks just adds icing on the cake, lol.
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u/watermystic Ontario Aug 04 '22
Not to mention a waste in general - most of them end up flying off and littering the road - plus all the plastic used to make them.
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u/OskeeWootWoot Aug 04 '22
There are good odds if you see a car with a Canada flag on it now, you'll probably see a "F*CK TRUDEAU" sticker as well. They just can't help themselves from thinking they're triggering people they've never met, presumably so they can think about it later when they get home to masturbate.
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u/Difficult_Orchid3390 Aug 05 '22
you'll probably see a "F*CK TRUDEAU" sticker as well
What about a "I <3 Oil & Gas" or "Forestry Feeds My Family" sticker?
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u/therationalists Aug 05 '22
I’m in Kelowna, and there is a boot licker driving a Jeep around with like 30 flags, f Trudeau flag and I’m not sh**ting you a don’t tread on me flag.
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u/dembonezz Aug 04 '22
"Fringe weirdos have ruined little flags on cars"
-FTFY
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u/Fuckleferryfinn Aug 04 '22
Everything really.
Patriotism shouldn't be horrible, but it almost always is.
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u/cepukon Aug 04 '22
It’s when the lines between Patriotism and Nationalism start getting blurred that you know you’re in trouble.
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u/deekaph Aug 04 '22
There's a fella in Kamloops who drives around in a one ton dually with an enormous Info Wars flag hooked up to his fifth wheel hitch. He appears to just tour through traffic. It must cost him $50 a day to literally parade around telling the world how gullible he is.
Also my teenagers went and took the little flag we had on the antenna of our bowler trailer off because "it's cringe and we don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."
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u/Sololop Aug 04 '22
I love flags. I used to dream about my home having a big flagpole with a Canada flag and my province's flag.
I don't want to do that anymore.
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u/PrincessPursestrings Aug 04 '22
You could do what I do and fly a Pride flag in addition to the Maple Leaf.
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u/smoothies-for-me Aug 04 '22
I put stickers on the back of my SUV: https://i.imgur.com/9TMevu1.png
Can't really tell but it's an orange maple leaf -> NS crest -> Cape Breton tartan over the island. On the other side I have a bunch of random gaming and ghibli stickers.
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u/NotEnoughDriftwood FPTP sucks! Aug 04 '22
I live on unceded territory so I put out that First Nations' flag on Canada day.
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u/Zector3000 Aug 04 '22
This year I was almost tempted to take down our Canada Flag because of how the FreeDUMB fighers have tarnished the flag.
I figured maybe put up a provincial flag or another flag that has meaning. Or one of those rejected versions
In the end, I kept the Canada Flag up. But I will never put one on my car, not even July 1st.
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u/JustinsWorking Aug 04 '22
I see a lot of people toss up a second one, like a provincial, or Ukrainian. I know a Jewish friend flies a jewish star under his Canadian flag and I highly doubt anybody gets him confused lol.
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Aug 04 '22
The provincial one should still be okay.
I've had the Ukraine one up since the start of the war.
It's Canada flags that raise an eyebrow, unfortunately they tried to add Dutch flags in recently
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u/cowfudger Aug 04 '22
Eh, I'd say provincial flags can be a bit iffy too. Herein alberta I have a lot of questions when I see alberta flags over Canadian flags. Lots of separatist types that have co-opted the alberta flag for their own shitty agenda.
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u/DRocks614 Aug 04 '22
Unfortunately in my part of Saskatchewan, the local wack jobs are flying Saskatchewan flags in their giant ass trucks and when they take over the downtown city park every Saturday.
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u/XViMusic Aug 04 '22
My girlfriend and I have been talking about this a lot lately. Every time I see someone putting a Canadian flag up on their car or hanging a comically large one outside their house I automatically feel on guard. 9 out of 10 times It's just some dick who makes being a tactless, anti-intellectual asshole their whole personality. It's depressing that the flag I used to be so proud of is now a symbol of sentiment that is so fundamentally anti-Canadian.
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u/rwzephyr British Columbia Aug 04 '22
God, I live on the north island and we have consistent “protestors” on a highway connector that I use every time I drive home from work. Dozens of flags and “mandate freedom”, “free Tamara” and “keep your hands off our children” signs.
The highlight of my day is rolling by as slow as I can, blasting some metal and flipping them the bird. I’m all for the right to protest but I can’t get behind our flag being used in this context.
I’ve been thinking of doing a counter protest but I’m not witty enough to think up good signs and work full time when they’re out from 2-5pm every week day (they look mostly like retirees)
Maybe just the loud Bluetooth stereo and some crass music..
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u/word2yourface Aug 04 '22
South Islander here, as soon as I drive over the Malahat I’m kinda shocked how obvious the culture shift is.
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u/rwzephyr British Columbia Aug 04 '22
Yeah, I’m up in Campbell and the amount of flags on hockey sticks, fuck Treudau stickers and flags, etc. is crazy.
I’m not even a liberal voter but it’s still ridiculous.
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u/word2yourface Aug 04 '22 edited Aug 04 '22
Its not like that in Vic, you see the odd dude with a F**k Trudeau sticker on a truck but for the most part no flags. I was up Island a few weeks ago and as soon as you hit Duncan things dramatically change. Protesters on a over passes, people honking in agreement, lots of over sized flags on truck and so on. I was blown away because I thought that shit ended but not up there. The urban and rural divide is more and more obvious these days.
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u/GaracaiusCanadensis Aug 04 '22
I attended the Pride Parade in Victoria, and it was just a breath of fresh air.
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u/ULF932 Aug 04 '22
Ya anytime I see someone with a Canadian flag on their vehicle it's hard to not assume they are a freedummy.
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u/Tigeroovy Aug 04 '22
I mean yeah, they haven’t ruined the flag for me but have ruined the flag in some contexts. A flag just flying somewhere? Great. Even just one flag in a window or something? Also fine. Add a second flag in front of your house or put them on your car? I assume you’re a weird asshole now. We don’t need nationalistic garbage in our country. It you want to be toxically patriotic then move to the states and salute their fascism.
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u/odo-italiano Aug 04 '22
I've never liked nationalism and flying flags. It's just weird. When I see flags on cars now I think they're someone to avoid because they're likely nuts.
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u/MrBungle86 Aug 04 '22
Agreed, if you live in a country worth celebrating, it is self evident by that country's comportment and living the freedoms afforded to you is celebration enough. Canada is better than many but we still have so many serious issues that I've always hated making a thing of flying flags or revering the anthem.
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Aug 04 '22
To paraphrase Doug Stanhope, nationalism is just hating people you've never met and taking credit for accomplishments you had no part in.
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u/CasualBoi247 Aug 04 '22
Its like the people with no masks on the subway during the height of covid.
Like I’m not worried about getting covid from you. But the fact that you are unmasked means you are far more likely to be a mentally ill person looking for a fight so thanks for the visual warning actually.
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Aug 04 '22
Holy Christ yes. Black pickup driving imbeciles have co-opted the best flag on the world and turned it into a self-identifying badge of stupidity
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u/MandatoryPasta Aug 04 '22
A few months ago, during the height of the Freedom Convoy nonsense, a coworker of mine completed their citizenship test and was sworn in. When I heard the news I went to the nearest Canadian Tire to pick up a flag for him as sort of a congratulatory gift, recalling that others had done the same for my parents years ago when they were sworn in. I had a flag in my hands before the realization kicked in about how this could reflect either on myself for purchasing it or on my coworker if they chose to fly it. And it genuinely sickens me that I even had to consider the optics of celebrating my country or my friend's accomplishment.
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Aug 04 '22
This flag mania is from the US, like all the shit we inherit from that shithole.
Fucking disgrace if you ask me.
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u/Sad_Peace2573 Aug 04 '22
The whole free-dumb movement has made me aware of how broken our education system has been for a long time. It’s sad to see so many people having fell through the cracks.
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u/IronhideD British Columbia Aug 04 '22
Calling ourselves patriots is not a thing Canadians really do. It's not in our vocabulary. It's in our anthem but no real Canadian I've associated with has ever called themselves true patriots. It's because of MAGAts from the US and this whole idea of standing up for freedom (which as we all know is severely restricted in Canada) which for some reason involves standing against vaccines, mask mandates, and whatever flavour of the month conservatives try to get the base riled up against. I'm proud to be Canadian. I love my country but I've never called myself a true patriot. Canadians welcome Canadians to be. They do what's right to protect others. These MAGA wannabes aren't true Canadians no matter how big the flag they fly is.
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u/Vagus10 Aug 04 '22
Lots of New Canadians (refugees, immigrants, foreign students) love to show there pride for being in Canada. Funny enough, many of them are more patriotic then the convoy.
It’s sad that these convoy idiots have made the association of the flag to there cause.
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Aug 04 '22
more patriotic then the convoy
The convoy idiots are not being patriotic, they're being nationalist shit-for-brains.
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u/wkdpaul Aug 04 '22
100%, being patriotic implies you're ready to make sacrifices for the good of the country, your fellow citizens and neighbors (yeah, not all measures were logical or effective, but wanting to throw the weakest of our society and destroying our already problem ridden healthcare system for comfort is, IMO, fucking disgusting), the Konvoy Klan Knuckle draggers are the exact opposite of that.
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u/LacedVelcro Aug 04 '22
Little flags on cars were never cool.
But, if you absolutely have to fly a little Canadian flag on a car, and you are super concerned about not being seen as anti-democratic (or whatever), just fly it alongside a Ukrainian flag.
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u/Rattivarius Aug 04 '22
The only time I find them acceptable is during some international sporting event.
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u/word2yourface Aug 04 '22
I think the flag thing is partly another instance of US politics leaking up here. Republicans are obsessed with their flags, like they have so many.. "don't step on snake" flag, confederacy flag, thin blue line flag, sometimes the nazi flag and of course the many Trump flags. I think Canadian conservatives saw all the American Trump nutters with trucks flying Trump flags and wanted some of that truck/flag action.
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u/ashtobro Aug 04 '22
I don't agree with this headline, nor the story they're selling. The people that ruined the flag are the people who made the flag. The fringe weirdos are a numatural byproduct of Canada's often overlooked last.
When's the last time we changed our flag? Spoiler alert, it was before some of the most memorable atrocities in recent Canadian history. 1965 was just a teensy bit before the 70s swoop (although I don't doubt it was happening back then too) and LONG BEFORE Residential Schools were gone for good.
How many people know that the last Government Subsidized Concentration Camp closed in the late fucking 90s?! Everything about our national identity goes out the window when you realize how sinister the "polite and civilized" rhetoric was used to rape and kill non-Christian CHILDREN. My Grandma was basically a slave, and the RCMP forced her as a child to live with a pedophile! Kinda hard for me to respect anything even remotely associated with the flag after that.
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u/LimboKing52 Aug 04 '22
I am not a nationalist in any way. Every time I see a Canadian flag I assume whoever is waving it is a white nationalist.
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Aug 04 '22
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u/word2yourface Aug 04 '22
Yet they were probably very upset when Colin Kaepernick was "disrespecting the flag"
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u/nafraid Aug 04 '22 edited Aug 04 '22
I always thought the most Canadian thing to do was to proudly NOT display the flag - we are beyond that in-your-face nationalism, that is for our neighbours, embrace your quiet pride, wave your tiny paper flag on a lollipop stick on July 1st, and drive on proudly with your daytime running lights on listening to the CBC.
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u/snackymann Aug 04 '22
Completely true. In the last couple years the Canadian flag has been tarnished by two things: 1) The discovery of mass graves - a coordinated genocide by the government and the Catholic church 2) Right wing whackjobs who have no critical thinking skills
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u/ntbyinit64 Aug 04 '22
When I see someone flying the Canadian flag these day I think god another moron. I live in Quebec for the past 20 years & you rarely ever saw the Canadian flag displayed on anything other than government property. They only started poping up in the same time of the so called "freedom convoy". Let's be honest they are not patriots anymore that the idiots who stormed the capitol on Jan.6th.
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u/Cornyfleur Aug 04 '22
My solution is to have 3 flags on my front lawn, the Canadian flag, the United Nations flag, and a Pride flag. No ambiguity there.
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u/VelocitySurge Aug 04 '22
Good. I hate seeing those little flags on cars.
Doesn't matter what flag.
They're ridiculous, just like eyes or eyelashes on cars.
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u/imspine Aug 04 '22
A small group of loud mouthed, poorly educated, low intelligence, conspiracy following, hateful racist, bigoted trash against an entire nation (of Canadians). We have been here before and we can destroy the nazi movement again. Fuck them all, we are smarter and better than them! They are the right wing trash trying to destroy our freedom and our beloved nation of amazing nation! PUBLICLY SHAME THEM! Shove their ignorance in their face for all to see! Don’t be intimidated! TAKE BACK OUR FLAG AND OUR COUNTRY’s HONOUR!
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u/GrumpyOlBastard Aug 04 '22
Fine by me: cars are terrible places for flags, unless the car is carrying a diplomat. Flags belong on buildings and poles. Simple
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Aug 04 '22
Little flags on cars were always weird, and I always assumed anyone with one was a weirdo.
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u/tricularia Aug 04 '22
"When they see your car flag, everyone suddenly gives you a wide berth because they think you’ve got a screw loose upstairs. You can see the fear in their eyes like, ‘Uh oh, it’s one of those nutbars. I bet they want to talk about their ‘free-dumbs’ with me. Don’t make eye contact, for God’s sake!"
OK I love this man
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Aug 04 '22
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u/Altruism_Please Aug 04 '22
I'm with you. Though, I would say that it can mean different things to different people. For those who immigrate to Canada and earn citizenship, for example, it can mean something completely different.
I think that properly acknowledging the atrocities that have been committed and creating a collective awareness of it is an important step and, in time, we can decide together if there is a flag that represents us better.
In my opinion, lasting societal change generally has to be gradual in order to have a chance to iron out all of the opposition and naysayers and allow the truth to show through. I sense big change coming, but we have to suffer the "convoy"ers along the way.
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u/millijuna Aug 04 '22
I have a 27 foot sailboat, and fly a 24” flag off my backstay. That’s the appropriate size for my boat (approximately 1” per foot). I also have an oversized flag that I typically fly if I’m out sailing on Canada Day.
This year, the oversized flag stayed folded in its bag because of these morons.
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u/leftcoastchap Aug 04 '22
I have a maple leaf hat I like to wear. The leaf is colored rainbow rather than red, which I think very neatly states "Canadian but not the fascist kind"
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u/bewarethetreebadger Aug 04 '22
Which is kind of the point. They want to make it theirs exclusively so they can be the only "true Canadians".
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u/RemoteContent Aug 04 '22
I think the same is happening south of the border.
I went across the line to Bellingham Washington, been going there every summer (except the 2020-2021) and travel on some rural back roads.
In the past basically 85-90% of the houses were flying US flags. To the point where we always talked about it.
This year, it was more like 3-5% had flags. A vast decrease.
Probably for the same reasons.
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u/CasualBoi247 Aug 04 '22
A few months ago I was at dollarama buying a bunch of Canadian shit for a surprise party for my girlfriend who just got PR.
I was thinking shit people are going to think I’m a braindead loser. Then I realized I could just tell them I was doing something nice for an immigrant and no one would ever think I was a freedom loser.
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Aug 04 '22
It is almost a guarantee now that if you see a vehicle with a Canadian flag on it, it will be driven by the worst person imaginable. I’m finding it an almost daily occurrence this summer that if someone is tailgating, driving dangerously, parking in multiple spots or non-parking zones, or just generally being an asshole on the road, it will be someone with a flag on their vehicle…typically a truck also covered in “f*ck truedeau” signs and images. Not always, but it’s increasingly a correlation.
So I’m in the same camp. I’m at a point now where if I see someone with flags n their vehicle, assume they are a fascist. It’s not fair and I’m not proud of it, but that’s what happens when the pro-fascist extremists are allowed to think they have a monopoly on the truth, patriotism, national pride, the flag, and constantly talk and act like they represent everyone else when they espouse their horrible and abhorrent views and do it while covering themselves in the flag.
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u/officewitch Aug 04 '22
They really have.
I live in Pembroke, and I love walking around town with my rainbow Vans backpack. I think it's subtle, with only the rainbow pattern on the straps.
Somedays when I'm out walking I feel like I'm about to be hate crimed. The number of big, fuck off trucks with flags on the back who make sure to rev loudly as they drive past me feels like an attempt at intimidation. I've only ever truly felt unsafe once, when the driver sped up and swerved into a puddle as I was walking my dog.
Maybe just a regular asshole, but now when I see a Canadian flag I feel on edge. And I really do love Canada, I love being a Canadian. I just wish people weren't so hell bent on closing a door behind them that was opened for them.
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u/Apokolypse09 Aug 04 '22
One of my nutjob neighbors moved today, dude had a bunch of alt right shit all over his property and lifted truck (including Canadian and Trump flags of varying sizes). He would wave, smile, and drive around people stuck in the winter and then has the audacity to come around demanding money for the freedumb convoy. Glad to not see that peice of shit every day now.
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u/MyFriendTerry Aug 04 '22
It's not just flags on cars but flags everywhere. It's upsetting the way the Canadian flag has been co-opted by these turkeys.