The Llangollen Parade of Nations: WHAT MAKES YOU AN AMERICAN?

We will be part of the parade of nations at the beginning of the competition in Llangollen. Typically, people are dressed in native traditional costumes and waving flags from their homeland. Here’s a YouTube clip of a previous parade.

While we will carry an American flag at the front of our group in the parade, part of the American experience is that someplace back in history, nearly ALL of us came from someplace else.

To that end, for our “costume” we will all wear our best Dela-WEAR – UD hoodies, shirts, hats… whatever you have!

But instead of waving 60 little American flags, we thought it would be cool to represent where our families came from instead. Of course, for many of us, our heritage represents SEVERAL countries, so I just ordered two hundred flags from all over the world. They include:

Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, Dominica, Antigua, Dominica, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad, Puerto Rico, Anguilla, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Aruba, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia , Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Malta, Spain, England, Samoa,Niue, Guam, Portugal, Andorra, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya, Tasania , Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Seychelles, China, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh , India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria,Kiribati, Tuvalu, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates , Oman, Yemen, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Cyprus, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Austria , Switzerland, Liechtenstein, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Monaco, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Greece,Tonga,Fiji Islands, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Chad, Central Africa, Cameroon, Gabon, Northern Mariana , DRC , Mauritalia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Canary Islands, Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, Saint Helena, Australia, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Palau, Kiribati

Clearly, there are only 60 of us, so it doesn’t make sense to bring along 200 little flags in my suitcase. But if you wish to wave a flag from country that represents part of your heritage, (You don’t have to wave a flag, btw) please indicate – IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. – which country you’d like to represent. FIRST COME, FIRST SERVE… so please check the comments thread to see if someone has already taken your country. You may also choose a country you have a strong affinity with even if you’re not a direct descendent. (e.g. you have relatives who are permanent residents, etc.)

The idea is to recognize that we as US citizens represent every corner of the globe. It is our differences that defines our collective identity as a nation.

Don’t forget to comment below so I don’t forget to bring YOUR flag. 🙂 And if you comment, make sure your logged in or state your name so we know who you are.

pdh