Burn that flag

Germans feel the burning flag heat again.

The country just got another "refresher lesson" in power: if others believe you have too much of it or are not using it well, they burn your flag.

The headlines in the German press said that a German flag was stolen at a German army camp in Cyprus. Then, in the body of the article, they said that two German flags were stolen, one of which was set on fire.

It happened last week and was a short lived news item. But then, what was not short lived last week.

Other countries where German flags went up in flames in recent years include the usual Euro bailout suspects like Greece but also Hungary.

The European flag, too, has fared badly, getting burned all over the place.

Did you just ask what the German army is doing in Cyprus?  They do a UN mission stint on the island divided since the 1970s.

We did not try to find flag sales statistics for Germany since re-unification, but we were quite surprised at the large numbers of flags big and small we have seen since our arrival. Compared to the low-key old republic.

As you would expect, some folks get very touchy about flags. Hence, when some German youth groups called for flag restraint during last year's European Championship, others immediately cried "German self-hatred".

The resident perfectionist at the K-landnews still, after several years, cannot get over the fact the yellow band on their flag is called "gold". Yes, the perfectionist accepts that there is precedent, such as poets waxing about the golden sun or sister golden hair, but you can see why the perfectionist won't budge.

Says the perfectionist: I don't think the name of the color makes a difference when you burn the flag. You might even think modern flags are produced to be riot friendly, with the flimsy, cheap polyester. But beats me why, at a military funeral, they used to make the latest recruit jump into the grave to retrieve the flimsy thing -- a thin piece of fishing line seems to be more dignified, or get a bio-degradable one.