Coming from me you might not believe this, if I had my way I would do away with the playing of national anthems, period, as they say in the US and what an appropriate place to start.
In my few visits to my relations I was amazed at the extent the Flag and the Anthem were held in such a degree of patriotism by the people, I couldn`t help but get the impression of a brain-washed society.

In Europe there is not the same extreme patriotism as I witnessed in the US, there is nothing as bad as that awful,`my country right or wrong` nonsense`, get behind the President even if he is a fool, and our brave boys fighting the good fight in every country but our own.
Certainly the Brits regard their army as snow-white, guiltless of every crime they are charged with, for all of that, they are not in the same league as the US when it come to blind patritism.
The curse of humanity when carried out to the extreme.