Canadians have new patriotic swagger

Canadians have new patriotic swagger - Canadians have long been known to be coy about bragging about how great their country is and displaying nationalistic symbols but a recent survey says that is changing.

Canadians have new patriotic swagger

Canadians have new patriotic swagger

The survey was conducted by Ipsos-Reid online. It polled 1,100 people between 20-22 June and was produced for the Historica-Dominion Institute. Results suggest that Canadians are getting brash and proud about their country and in-your-face patriotism is becoming far more normal.

Of course much of this centers around the use of the famous flag symbol, the Maple Leaf. Apparently One in five said they would consider getting a tattoo of it somewhere on their body. This was heightened in the under 55's and strongest in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

From my years in Canada I recognise the red leaf as a distinct Canadian symbol. Like Canadas image it appears non-offensive, does not symbolise war or oppression and looks far cooler than most flags. It's a lucky piece of branding for a country to have!

The years of people saying things good about Canada and celebrating the leaf must be rubbing off if the results of this survey are to be believed.

As a non-Canadian I like the symbol too and like that Canadians don't feel bad displaying it and are ever more interested in going beyond using it just as a flag. Of course if you are not careful nationalism can go too far the wrong way but I think as a whole that is a long way off.

Interestingly the maple tree where the symbol comes from only grows in Eastern Canada but the West seem to love it just as much!

More details of other findings from the survey, including where Canadians rate Poutine as a national food and what they think of Beavers, can be read  in this article over at MSN.

Are you Canadian, how do you relate to your national symbols and patriotism? Do you see a problem with it and would you prefer the old more humble Canadian style to be on the rise instead?

Republished from The Random Forest.