Banal Nationalism: Flags, Sport and Everyday Identity

Nationalism is often imagined as dramatic: revolutions, wars and independence movements. In 1995 the social psychologist Michael Billig argued that in established nations it is mostly 'banal', reproduced quietly every day. Examples include flags hanging unnoticed outside public buildings, weather maps showing only the national territory, news that speaks of 'the economy' and 'our' team, coins, stamps and the national anthem before a game.

Because these reminders are so routine, people rarely notice them, yet they constantly mark the world as divided into nations and remind citizens which one is theirs. International sport offers a vivid example: events such as the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup, held since 1930, organize competition by national team and can produce intense national feeling. Billig argued that this everyday nationalism is the background that allows 'hot' nationalism to be mobilized quickly in a crisis.

His idea helps explain why national identity can seem natural even though historians show it was constructed.