"In case you couldn't tell, (Tina Armstrong's) an American, and Americans always wear the stars and stripes. In fact, I'm wearing a very patriotic thong."
A flag design on swimwear, or similar garment, apparently to make the outfit even sexier, or at least very distinctive.
For some reason, the U.S. flag seems to be the most common, but it's not the only one.
It often shows up in advertising, particularly if being worn by a Hood Ornament Hottie.
Some people consider this disrespectful to these flags (and Brazil actually bans its flag on swimsuits note ), while other people don't seem to mind, as shown by the popularity of this kind of suit.
If an anime or manga has a Gorgeous Gaijin Ms. Fanservice from the United States, and there is a Beach Episode, expect said girl to wear this bikini.
A Sub-Trope of Patriotic Fervor, Wearing a Flag on Your Head, and Sexy Whatever Outfit. Needless to say, Truth in Television. Not to be confused with Underwear Flag.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- The music video for the song "S.t.a.r.S" from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann features Ms. Fanservice Yoko Littner in various costumes. Of the two foreign ones, one is a cowgirl in an American flag bikini.
- Mito Ikumi often wears one in Food Wars!. And she's not even American!
- Emily Dawn from Gamble Fish wears one as her normal outfit.
- In the Midori Days manga, foreign exchange student Lucy wears American flag underwear.
- Rent-A-Girlfriend: Mami is seen wearing a U.S. flag bikini during the Beach Episode for no particular reason.
- A brief scene in Gals! has Ran and Mami fight over a U.S. flag patterned bikini. Unsurprisingly, the bikini snaps into half due to their tug-of-war with it, and their boyfriends is forced to pay for the damage.
- Monica Adenauer of the American team in Yakitate!! Japan wears an American flag-themed bikini while on the deserted island alongside in the finals.
- The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You: Hakari wears an American flag bikini in one of Yaku's Imagine Spots in Chapter 76 (Yaku having mixed up her personality with Naddy's).
Comic Books
- Stargirl from Justice Society of America has a variant—while she does bare her midriff, her costume is closer to a tank top and bicycle shorts rather than a bikini.
- Katy Keene had a cover where Katy, Gloria, and Lucki had a set that made a flag when standing together
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- Wonder Woman's standard costume through New 52 was a leotard in a stars-and-stripes motif. However, more recent iterations have had her with solid blue bottoms and a solid red bodice. The Eagle motif is retained, but it currently is the eagle of Zeus, not America.
Films — Live-Action
- Used in the advertising of American Pie 2 (but not the movie itself), with the four female leads and Jason Biggs◊ in American flag swimsuits.
- Austin Powers is a Rare Male Example, wearing Union Jack briefs.
- The two heroines of the film Dick (pictured above) cut up a flag to make bikini tops and hip huggers for themselves at the end. Both being The Ditz, one asks about whether or not it's illegal and the other tells her that it's okay, "as long as you put it back together later".
- Megan Fox sports one with heels and a cowboy hat while dancing under a waterfall in a brief scene in Bad Boys 2.
- DOA: Dead or Alive: Tina (Jaime Pressly) is introduced surfacing from the ocean and climbing onto a boat while wearing an American Flag Bikini.
- Striptease: One of the strippers wears a flag bikini and sailor hat as part of her costume.
Live-Action TV
- Seen in the Hustle episode "And This Little Piggy Had Money" as part of a fantasy the mark has about what his life will be like when he accepts the high-paying job in California that Mickey's crew is offering him.
- In an episode of My Name Is Earl, Joy is trying to show that she's a good person to gain jury sympathy, so with some help from Darnell, she does a sexy photoshoot of herself in one of these (and her flag-painted Brat) to send to soldiers overseas, claiming that she's doing so out of pure-hearted Patriotic Fervor.
- The Pretender has a scene, that combines◊ this with Going Fur a Swim in a fake ad. It's advertising a Get-Rich-Quick Scheme, and it has the host surrounded by a couple of girls wearing fur jackets over their flag bikinis.
- Lois Lane (Erica Durance) from Smallville has to wears one in a strip club to help Chloe in a investigation in "Exposed".
Chloe: All I can say is... God bless America!
Music
- Angus Young of AC/DC will finish the process of stripping down to just his schoolboy shorts by dropping his shorts, revealing a pair of boxers designed like the flag on the country they're playing in.
- The original cover of the The Black Crowes' album, Amorica, had a close-up of a woman's "bikini area" wearing one—taken from a 1976 issue of Hustler magazine—but it got banned and replaced.
Pro Wrestling
- WWE divas when often wear these, especially around the Fourth of July. Torrie Wilson would wear these as the poster girl◊ for The Great American Bash two years in a row.
- On a WCW Monday Nitro episode, there was a swimsuit competition and Major Gunns wore an American flag bikini for it. "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, who was playing a Canadian heel at the time, got angry at the sight and tried to cover her up with a Canadian flag. Gunns just shrugged the flag off. The contest ended up being won by Pamela Paulshock.
Video Games
- An early version◊ of one of the pics of herself Catherine sends Vincent in Catherine had her wearing an American flag bikini, which was changed to vertical red-and-white stripes◊ in the final version.
- Tina Armstrong's starting swimsuit in Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball is one of these.
- Christie's Sapphire suit is a one-piece Union Flag variant of this trope. Her amethyst suit also has a union flag motif but it's predominantly purple for some reason.
- Fate/Grand Order:
- The Berserker version of Miyamoto Musashi wears an American flag bikini in her Second and Final Ascension outfits, which she uses as "proof" that she's actually an American. Obviously, no one In-Universe actually buys that.
- Andromeda wears an Ethiopian flag bikini in her Second Ascension outfit.
- Candy Suxxx from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City wears nothing more than an American flag-themed bikini.
- In Rival Schools, the outfits of Tiffany Lords express a flag-based motif.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch Roxxy from Summertime Saga will sport an American flag bikini during the bikini contest. Her original bikini suffered Clothing Damage, so the MC gives her a new one (it actually belonged to Captain Terry's wife).
Web Comics
- All the Anthropomorphic Personifications of countries in Scandinavia and the World wear their flag on their clothes, so any swimsuit instance promises some flag swimwears. Sister America's usual top also gives off the effect of a flag-bikini top.
Western Animation
- In the American Dad! episode “An Incident at Owl Creek”, President Barack Obama wore an American flag bikini brief swimsuit.
