Flag
Drapeau
culture, the moon, history
False patriotism
freedom, identity, color
nation, loyalty
origin, pride
patriotism, country, origin
pride, patriotism, national anthem
pride, symbol
red, white and black; country, people
representative, red, white, blue, blue, white, red
square cloth, flaps in wind
stars and stripes, red, white, blue
stars, red, stitches
symbol, big, flying
symbol, cloth
symbol, pride, national
symbol,nationalism
unity, white
wave,pride, patriotism
bleu bicolor
bleu blanc rouge, nation, patrie, Histoire
bleu, blanc, rouge, patrie
couleurs, patriotisme, blau, blanc, rouge
emblème,berne
nationalisme, culture, honneur, fidélité, patrie,
partrie, les couleurs du pays,
patrie, nationalisme, bleu blanc rouge, fièreté, honneur
patrie, symbole,
patriotisme, guerres, sang
pays, patrie, identité
Pouvoir, Patrie
représentation,symbole
symbole, patrie, nationalisme
tricolore, blanc
Discussion
flags are all around us
It seems that, aside from the colors, which are mentioned a lot by the French as well, only the Americans describe physical characteristics of a waving flag: "big", "flying", "cloth", "wave", "flaps in wind".
I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that here in the US we are more used to seeing flags all over the place.
Pride and Symbolism
For both Americans and the French, the flag is a representation of deeper convictions about love for and devotion to country at the cost of others. It is the rallying point for patriotism and pride in country, and is likely the case not only for the Americans and the French, but also for any nation for which nationalism and national integrity is at a premium over other allegiances.
The Chart
I thought the graph that Clemence put online was very helpful for this topic. It seems that the values that we associate with the flag are very similar. Considering the surge of patriotism in the US right now, it's surprising to see that patriotism, while frequent on both sides, was actually a more common association on the French side. Perhaps this is due to the fact that America is such a "melting pot" of different backgrounds that the American flag is not so unified a symbol of patriotism as it is for the French? That is, since many Americans have immigrated from a different cultural backgrounds, there isn't as strong a patriotic focus for the flag?
Graph
I was looking at the graph made by Clemence d'Herbes, and according to that, it looks as though we interpret flags quite similarly. Although through a discussion in class, we noticed that there are significantly different inferences made with putting a flag up say in front of someone's house.