Flag-waving is showing very strong love of your country — especially when it feels too loud, too much, or done for show. The picture is people waving flags, but the word is usually not about real flags in the street; it is about the feeling and the performance. Newspapers and critics use it with a cool or unkind tone: a speech may be called flag-waving if it pushes patriotism instead of a real plan. It is not a compliment. Though actually, some people use it more loosely for any noisy show of national pride, even when they rather like the show.