In Norway our constitution day is coming up in a few weeks (may 17th) with the traditional celebrations including big parades consisting of children with flags.

During the years Norway has, along with most countries in the western world, become a multi cultural society.

This year the debate has been raging in the media wether or not one should forbid other flags than the norwegian in the parade.

It's important to say that foreign flags were not supposed to replace the norwegian, but as a supplement to show the immigrant's nation of origin.

What do you think? Can you relate this issue to July 4th?

It's a very thorny issue and can really open up a can of worms.

We have two local colleges that have had flag displays from countries around the World. These displays included the flag of the current recognized government of Vietnam. We also have a very large community of Vietnamese refugees who fled the communist regime and are demanding that the schools remove the Communist Government's flag. One school responded by removing all the flags. The other school has refused--so far.

If you allow any, then you have to allow all--or none at all.
I personally would resent seeing anything but the Stars and Stripes on the Fourth of July. And I would imagine your Constitution Day is just as patriotic as our Independence Day.
Children with flags might be cute--but not on a day of national celebration and pride.

I think the Norwegian flag needs to be the one and only one flown on that day. The 4th Of July is formally called Independence Day, which is all about the U.S. proclaiming itself a nation and nothing about cultural diversity. There are 364 other days in the year for the various nationalities to celebrate their being part of the Norwegian (or American) fabric. I don't think it is asking too much to allow one day where Norway gets all the attention.

I can relate this issue to our (US) Independence Day celebrations, and I too would resent any other flag of national origin being displayed.

Dwayne

It is the Norweigan Constitution day, not the multi-cultural constitution day. One day set aside to celebrate the Norweigan Constitution is not too much to ask from all of the multi-cultural socieities. I don't understand why being politically correct only applies to some. One day, one flag, it's not too much to ask of others to respect that.

Out of curiosity, Svein... Do they allow multi-national flags to be flown on February 6 (Sami National Day)?

Drlivingston, you can't really compare these two days. The Sami day is a much more quiet day with only a few small gatherings. Then the norwegian and sami flag is flying.

But may 17 is a day where practically the whole nation is involved with the parades, especially the one in Oslo where the Royal Family is attending.

Thank you all for your inputs. I totally agree with you that the norwegian (and sami) flag is the one that should be flying that day.

But is it right to forbid people to bring other small flags, and to take action against them to enforce the prohibition? I'm not sure. Because then it's not in line with the values we appreciate here and in the rest of the world: freedom of speech.

To make it clear: this issue is not brought up by the immigrants themselves - almost all of them are totally in favor for using the norwegian flag exclusively.

It seems that either way you go on this issue, you are bound to annoy some people. National sentimentalism can be a very divisive subject. The best way to see an upsurge in the amount of multi-national flags is to ban them. If you tell someone they can't do something, then they are going to find a way to do it out of spite. If you condone a certain action, then, oddly enough, people aren't as interested in participating.

That's exactly what I've been thinking. This issue has never been a problem the previous years, but this year I'm sure we'll see some more foreign flags in the parade brought out by people doing it just for spite.