Bart-Mangled Banner/References

Cultural References

 * The episode title is a play on the title of USA's National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.
 * This is also a reference to a quote from the previous season episode Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade. During the episode Bart says that when he gets through with Lisa's flag, "it's gonna be a Bart-mangled banner."
 * When Dr. Hibbert chases Bart, One Way or Another by Blondie is played.
 * The scene where Dr. Hibbert chases Bart in a cropduster mirrors a scene in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock thriller, North by Northwest.
 * When thinking about changing Springfield's name, Mayor Quimby refers to "Hitler City, NC", which (according to him) changed its name to Charlotte.
 * The "Government Knows Best" act satirizes the controversial 2001 legislation, the Patriot Act, aimed at fighting terrorism in the United States and abroad.
 * President Clinton's attempt to smoke 100 cigarettes at once is a reference to the Guinness World Records. He is probably wanting to break the record.
 * An American country band Dixie Chicks appears in this episode, but its members don't talk. They talk later in the episode "Papa Don't Leech" for the first time in the series.
 * Prize 17,76 refers to Declaration of Independence in the USA in 1776.
 * This is the first episode, where New York is shown after September 11, 2001. World Trade Center is missing there.

Trivia

 * Music from this episode:
 * "One Way or Another" by Blondie
 * "Coming to America" by Neil Diamond
 * According to this episode, Moe is of Dutch heritage.
 * The "Donkey-Basketball" story was originally supposed to be in "Bart the Fink" (3F12), but was cut for time (according to the Season 7 DVD commentary).
 * Bart himself coined the phrase "Bart-Mangled Banner" in the Season 14 episode, "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade" (when he altered Lisa's blueprint for the state flag to read "Learn To Fart" instead of "To Fraternal Love").
 * Lisa cries after getting her shot from DR Hibbert in this episode and asks for a lollipop. This goes against the Season 4 episode "Kamp Krusty" where she asks DR Hibbert for a number of boosters and accuses him of patronising her when he offers her a lollipop.
 * When Poonam strangles Anoop with licorice, Marge mistakenly calls him Uma.
 * Apu Nahasapeemapetilon renamed his children to Freedom, Lincoln, Manifest Destiny, Coke a Pepsi, Condoleezza, Apple Pie a Superman.
 * The Sound of Music
 * The Simpsons one-by-one escape from the re-education center during their talent show number alludes to the 1965 musical The Sound of Music wherein the Von Trapps escape during their "Good Night" number at the Salzburg Music Festival.
 * Patriot Act:
 * "The Government Knows Best Act" is a spoof of the Patriot Act, which opponents have charged infringes on Constitutional rights.
 * The man who was imprisoned for bringing explosives from Canada is a spoof of the Millennium Bomber, the suspect who planned to blow up the Space Needle on Dec. 31, 1999 but was foiled.
 * Lenny's tattoo is from the Dole-Kemp 1996 election campaign.
 * The episode title is play on "The Star-Spangled Banner," the national anthem of the United States.
 * Bart previously visited France in "The Crepes of Wrath".
 * In France, Marge wears the same clothes like in the episode "Scenes from the Class Struggle in Springfield".

Goofs

 * In this episode, cities Oakland and San Francisco are located wrong.