anthem

US respect for the flag hit me like a thunderbolt last night. I was at a very run-of-the-mill event, a free hour-long concert given in Pasadena's beautiful Memorial Park by the Pasadena City College orchestra, in the embers of a warm, sunny evening.
The performance was preceded, or perhaps begun, by a performance of the Star-Spangled Banner. I had just got up from my seat to move to the back of the open-air auditorium to take a call on my cell phone. Happily, the call ended just as the orchestra struck up the anthem.
Naturally, everyone stood and stayed stock still throughout. Some, particularly a young lad in shorts, put their hand on their chest.
That much I was prepared for. But, as the music reached its last few bars I began to walk forward, back to my seat. What shocked me was that I was the only one who moved. Everyone else, in a predominantly white but pretty random gathering, stayed still until the music had completely finished before they sat down and resumed conversations.
This is in stark contrast to Britain, where the national anthem is treated very casually, if any attention is paid at all. At sporting events, people routinely talk through it and rarely sing it.
Years ago, British cinemas used to play the national anthem at the end of the evening. By the time I was old enough to stay up that late, the whole audience would normally ignore it in their rush to get out. Once, at the Gaumont in King's Cross, one man, probably in his 30s or 40s and wearing a trench coat, stubbornly stood to attention for the entirety of the anthem while everyone around him filed out. He was making a point, and so was everyone else. Now, as far as I know, no British cinema or theater plays the national anthem. It is regarded as a waste of time. Not in America.
What does this tell us? I think it is linked, though in which direction I'm not sure, with the greater US religious observance and church attendance. In England, the established church is in severe decline: only the Jewish and Roman Catholics have widespread support, along with those of the ethnic minorities.
But churches abound in America, to the extent that the people are derided by Europeans for an 'off-the-shelf' approach to religion, taking whatever suits. But they do adopt a religious belief system of some sort, rather than the none at all which is now normal in Britain. And I think that extends to lack of belief in the national flag and anthem.
Sure, the flag - especially the white-and-red English Cross of St George - is waved proudly at sporting events, but that is in the context of support for the England team and is partly an act of aggression towards opposition supporters. The British Royal family is still regarded with great affection, though it has to be admitted that it has been the butt of sniggers for 20 years or so.
That can be seen as a sign of greater sophistication and maturity, because there is no doubt that pride in Britain is as great as ever, as borne out by support for the armed forces in time of conflict, whether in the Falklands or the middle east. The British, and this goes to some extent for the rest of western Europe, don't feel the same need as Americans to bow to the symbols of that pride - the flag and anthem.
However, the American reverence for these baubles is also a sign, I believe, of a more ordered society. Mocking, ironic humor, of the sort propagated by Monty Python, is still thought rather daring in America, although the success of TV shows such as The Office show the mood is beginning to change. However, the US is still a long way from Britain's destructive reflex to bring down anyone who is too successful, to level out, cut the heads off the tall flowers, that has become such a pervasive pastime on the Atlantic's eastern shore.
All that is a long way from an open-air concert. But when that audience sat back in its seats, I think it did so with a greater sense of comfort and security than you might find in England. However, it may be significant that Scotland still bellows its anthem and salutes the blue Cross of St Andrew with a fervour that would frighten nearly anyone else exposed to it. That, though, is driven by an emotion that is more tribal than national.