Issue 8 – Monday 7 August
Why should the Germans not show their flag at Global Village?
German delegation, V6
Germany is awash in a sea of black, red and gold these last weeks. Small banners flutter from cars, others are draped from windows. Some fans even carry a flag with them or have opted for face paint. For a country with such a conflicted relationship to its undisputedly unfortunate history, this is difficult for a lot of people.
Of course, supporting the national soccer team has long been the most innocent way for Germans to feel good about their country.
Six decades after the horrors of World War II and 16 years after reunification, it's okay to be German again.
As a real Falcon, I can attest that's a positive thing. There's absolutely no reason why Germans shouldn't be able to feel good about their modern and tolerant country. Germany is still far from perfect, but the best way to keep out neo-Nazis and others is to avoid abandoning love of country and patriotism to right-wing extremists.
Some German readers might recoil at this, thinking I'm urging them to take up the often over-the-top patriotism seen in much in France. In fact, there is a kind of queasiness many Germans have towards such displays.
Sometimes it feels as if Germany wants to remove any lingering questions about its past, so it can present a clear and polished identity to the world. But Germany still has no idea how to present itself, because Germans still have no idea who, or what, they are.
Germany was always full of friendly and optimistic people – it's just that they were often drowned out by all the complainers and pessimists.
Just as Germany was never as bad a place as many foreigners thought, it was certainly much nicer than many Germans were willing to admit. Yes, there are problems, serious ones. The economy might be doing okay at the moment, but far too many people remain jobless.
And Germans aren't the only ones. The black, red and gold flag fest has been a boon for the country's integration of its citizens with immigrant backgrounds. Many Turks and Arabs flew the German colors at their shops or on their cars. A small gesture perhaps, but an important one to both those Germans concerned about integration and those immigrants acknowledging that this is their home too.
This outpouring of good-natured patriotism is only logical: if the Germans are more willing to express their affection for the good aspects of their own country, then so too will others.