It seems everyone likes a little bit of flag waving patriotism, even on the Canadian side of the border.
While flag waving seems to historically be more common place on the southern side of the border, there are still plenty of Canadians who like to show their national colours, whether from a flag pole or on their clothing.
Canadian patriotism seems to be growing in leaps in bounds, obviously helped along by the most recent Olympic games. It seems everyone wanted to wear their Canadian colours when the Winter Olympics were back on home soil for the first time in 22 years.
It has been six months since the Olympics invaded Vancouver and everyone was wearing their red and white shirts, toques, scarves and mittens.
The summer months, with Canada celebrating its birthday and a host of communities celebrating their annual summer events, seem to draw out the desire to raise the Canadian flag again. A few provincial flags and even some municipal flags also make increased appearances in the summer.
The local popularity of flying flags seems to be increasing, as more people are putting up flag poles in their yards, on their homes and elsewhere on their property.
All of this patriotism is nice to see but with the flying of an official flag, such as our Alberta or Canada flags, comes a sense of responsibility.
All too often, flags are left to fade and unravel in our often relentless southern Alberta wind. Anyone who has every flown a flag knows the emblems of our province and our country do not come cheap.
Flags which are a delight to see flapping in the wind can quickly become an eyesore when half the flag is unraveled by the wind.
It is certainly more respectful to remove a flag once it starts to fade or becomes so unraveled the two bands of red on either side of the maple leaf or reduced to a single band. It is a little disheartening to see a partial flag hanging, almost in what would appear to be disgrace, from a neglected flag pole.
Once a flag starts to show its age it should be removed. It would be better if a flag pole, even one on municipal property, were left vacant for a time than to have a tattered or badly faded flag in place.
Hats off to those who do make the effort to fly the national colours especially during special occasions or in times of national mourning but lets not forget to fly the flag with the respect it deserves.