I see Norwegian flags all over the place here, if anything, MORE than in the US, and for the same patriotic reasons. Flag poles in the front yard are probably about as common here as in the US, and I saw a business (like the car dealership at the link) flying a Norwegian flag just the other day. Of course, a lot of the same motivations to patriotism are present here also, because Norway has only been independent of Sweden for about a century (though they had a dual government thing similar to Canadas going on long before that.)

The thing is, I often get the impression the distinction between patriotism and nationalism no longer exists in most of continental Europe, because of the latters legacy in the World Wars. The depth and breadth of Europes psychic scars from those conflicts still amazes me sometimes, particularly with regard to the Great War. Overcompensating for the failings that caused it resulted in the failings that caused the SECOND war, yet many people still apparently consider any martial impulse or national pride inherently immoral. In that context, seeing a national flag anywhere but a government building is likely to be viewed as just as inherently provocative. I am curious what the perception is in other parts of the world.