Flag-jacking! Pretending to be Canadian
Flag-jacking. (French: prise de drapeau) the actof travelers wearing a foreign flag on their clothing or backpack in an attemptto disguise their country of origin.
The most common situation is when Americans pose asCanadians.Flag-jacking was rampant during the 1960s and 70s, during thelengthy Vietnam War, November 1955 until April 1975. Riding on a wave of civilrights awareness, anti-war protests, the rise of feminism, and economic prosperity,students and university graduates from all countries backpacked their wayacross Europe on grand adventures that their parents could only have dreamedabout in their youth. Many American travelers plastered the Canadian flag onbackpacks, and jackets in hopes they would receive friendlier treatment orservice.
When Lawrie and I traveled extensively in Europe during the firstGulf War, we encountered only a handful of Americans. In January 1991 the StateDepartment issued a travel advisory for all Americans, telling them to stayhome! The few that we met were flag-jacking our Canadian maple leaf.
The term flag-jacking gained additional popularity after anarticle entitled "How to Spot Flag-Jacking Frauds Abroad" waspublished on 1 July 2013 by The Huffington Post. The article stated that flag-jacking is atransitory act involving a person's use of a country's flag to create the falseimpression of being a citizen of a favored nation. Pretending to be Canadian bywearing our maple leaf still gets Americans better service when they’re abroad,provided they’re able to act the part, too.
For their 2013 article, The Huffington Post commissioned bodylanguage expert and author Mark Bowden of TruthPlane Inc. to demonstrate how topass for a Canadian.
Here are a few of Bowden’s tips.
The Maple-o-gy: A Canadian gesture showing submission byraising the shoulders in an apologetic motion, presenting oneself asnonthreatening. It’s similar to the shrug, practiced by French nationals.
The Canuck Crinkle: Showing the creases around your eyeswhen smiling – indicates genuine friendliness.
The Toque Tilt: Slight tilting of the head when smiling,shows courtesy and congeniality.
Personally, I don’t mind if our American neighboursflag-jack our maple leaf, as long as they are polite, kind, considerate, andleave the combative MAGA perspective in the USA.
Wishing everyone a peaceful day, one without additional proclamations from Trump and Company, in his economic war to destroy our country.
To, in his words, “bring Canada to its knees" because he wants to take our natural resources.
Lynda
