I'm a loyal, patriotic American but I won't hang a flag here in the Philippines without a good purpose.

Why would we fly another countries flag?

Near where I live there is someone who flies St. Georges cross, luckily we dont have a mad PC council. But yeah I completely agree with you. I woud rather die than see my country run by those pigs.

Because the Union Jack became associated with the BNP in the 1980's.. If you look at an England football games from before that period the crowd is filled with hundreds of union jacks... These days it has changed to the St George Cross, which isn't seen as racist, at least where I live..

No, I don't think British people are worried about being associated with the BNP. They just find waving your flag a bit brash, a bit showing off, rather tasteless. Just because you come from the best country in the world, there is no need to rub other people's noses in their misfortune. http://www.leoslyrics.com/listlyrics.php?hid=oM06KzsYIMo%3D

I'm an American, and I've been interested in the BNP as a social phenomenon. I'm also interested in symbols and the way humans relate to them, particularly in terms of the level of intensity with which people define their identity in terms of symbols. One thing that seems clear to me is that in politics, everybody is trying to manipulate symbols for leverage and power. If the flag stirs sentiment in the hearts of ones' countrymen, to the degree that a faction can hijack that symbol and make it their own, they can exploit that emotional connection to gain power. The BNP seems to have succeeded in some degree in this regard. That's not entirely unrelated to what has happened in America, where the flag has somewhat been co-opted by the right wing. Not completely: liberals still respect the flag -- but in many places, where many flags fly there is a presumption that a conservative bias exists. The conservatives have succeeded to some degree in creating an association which binds the symbol closer to their ideology than to their opponent's. This symbol-manipulation occurs with many things, not just flags. Most manipulated symbols are short words or phrases -- sound bytes. In the abortion debate, the terms "pro-choice" and "pro-life" are like flags... i.e. just because someone believes that a woman should have some rights to abortion does not mean they are "anti-life", but the repeated idea-wars have made it seem so. I think that untangling this kind of simplistic thinking is one of the most important challenges the modern world faces. It always "dumbs down" the conversation, reducing complex topics to the level of a child's mind, but losing the opportunity for real dialog -- and resolution -- in the process. How do we get smart enough to not be fooled by these tricks? That's the question that interests me a lot.

Why is it that (many) Americans think that flying a flag is the only way to show patriotism?

Interesting... There are negative connotations, however I had always seen the St. George flag to have had more negative connotations attached than the Union flag. I also echo Im Alec's answer =) I visited Queens once and it got a bit old - all these American flags everywhere as if that was the only way to prove patriotism. That's what it seems to be - proving pride. It actually cheapens the sentiment attached to the flag, in my eyes. It makes the flag a tool, rather than a symbol of the country.