Flying the flag

The That.

I quote: As for the SNP appropriating the Saltire, there are no flags on display at any of the government Covid briefings and nobody feels the need to proclaim their nationality by having a nine foot flagpole in the living room when they’re on Zoom.

An address to the nation isn't a press briefing. A picture of the First Minister in her official residence is not the same as her being on Zoom in her living room. I did explain that at the time.

Misunderstanding or wilful misinterpretation? I guess we'll never know.

And perhaps you flag lovers would like to comment on the Tory MP who thinks that people who don't worship the Union Jack should move to another country...

No takers?

lemongrove

I remember saying to you ( a year ago)Pip that I won’t be drawn into answering any of your posts.
That still stands btw.

By the way, a year ago I had just buried my mother so I doubt I would have had any great interest in something like Gransnet.

Seek and ye shall find... ?

Can someone please point me to any post where I said the FM had never been seen with a saltire? One you've made up in your imagination doesn't count.

I'll wait......

As long as you're not holding your breath Alegrais1

Only holding my breath while watching Line of Duty PippaZ ?

"As for the SNP appropriating the Saltire, there are no flags on display at any of the government Covid briefings and nobody feels the need to proclaim their nationality by having a nine foot flagpole in the living room when they’re on Zoom."

Semantics I know, but most of the thread has been so why not chuck in a bit more? Can't stick Line of Duty so it gave me something to do.

Ah well done, you've found a picture of the FM in a comedy Christmas jumper with a flag in what does appear to be her living room. So all my arguments are void and I commit to never mentioning the "flags in the living room" topic ever again.

Still waiting to hear about that MP who wants to rid the country of all non flag worshippers.

That's not a fascist idea of course; just a perfectly normal thing to want...

It was supposed to lighten the mood Alegrias and maybe distract from Maizie re-enacting fight club while the rest of us - including the very many non rabid, non tories - mull over the concept that our moderate and balanced deliberations of the flag issue have been seized upon, chewed up, spat out and reformed into fascist sympathising. FGS.

Off to iron my black shirt ready for the morning so I can wear it to my zoom meeting with my fellow xenophobes...?

NellG I've never seen 'Fight Club' but often see references to it. Do you recommend I watch it, will it bring enlightenment?
I always think black doesn't show creases so much, don't bother to iron it.

21:44NellG yesterday

Seek and ye shall find... ?

???

Well who knew it was actually Queen Nicola posing in her living room who started the flag craze?

I think all this flag waving is an attempt to hold the tattered union together. Some of it looks ridiculous , shows some of these ministers to be really up themselves - who can have the biggest or most flags. yuk. I remember a programme about an eastern european state under communism, they were forced to have flags on their balconies on certain days - you faced a prison sentence if you didn’t. Sounds like some on here want to go down that road.

Gosh, this is a long thread. I haven't read it all yet, so, sorry if my comment appears when the conversation has gone off in another direction.

The comments at the beginning had me wondering if those flags in the backgrounds of people's video appearances had little labels in the hem which said "made in China".

Just wondering!

vegansrock

I think all this flag waving is an attempt to hold the tattered union together. Some of it looks ridiculous , shows some of these ministers to be really up themselves - who can have the biggest or most flags. yuk. I remember a programme about an eastern european state under communism, they were forced to have flags on their balconies on certain days - you faced a prison sentence if you didn’t. Sounds like some on here want to go down that road.

Hey, what a good idea ...

I seem to remember the EU flag, everywhere. ?

I’ve been pondering this question for a couple of days now. I keep seeing this thread pop up but I will be honest and say that I haven’t read it all.

I think that flags were originally used for military purposes for the troops to rally behind, and I think that there is definitely still an element of that in the way it is used at times.

They are pretty old in origin and I found that the Saltaire is one of the oldest, with the Danish flag also having an ancient history.

Recent history has seen the Union Flag high jacked by political causes, in particular the far right, but a more moderate element has tried to re-claim the Union Flag in recent years with the result that the far right now use the St George’s Flag.

I think few would argue that in the past decade, the U.K. has been more divided both politically and economically than we have seen in our life time, and it seems that the government is beginning to wake up to this fact by trying to find common cause which the U.K. population can rally around, beginning it seems with the Union flag. Which is now eye wateringly evident whenever a government spokesman appears.

The irony is that it was this political party that cause the huge divisions in the first place.

The question is, will the population find common cause? Will Willy waving in the form of the Union Flag cut it?

I think not. What heals division, and creates pride in ones country is fairness in the economic system and a strong democracy.
Rallying behind the Union flag seems a tad sad and desperate.

It won’t work.

I never really had strong feelings about flags. I grew up in Sweden and we got used to seeing the Swedish flag on all sorts of occasions. I believe the flag is one of the world's oldest. We never saw it as a political tool though. If you have a detached house with a big garden it's common to have a flag. The 6 June is Swedens National Day and is a public holiday. It used to be called Swedish Flag Day. As for the colours, blue and yellow, I don't think anybody really knows why they were chosen but the blue and yellow colours go back a long time in Swedish tradition. One GN poster thought the colours were not suitable; well... The intense blue of the Swedish sky is different in shade; we are also surrounded by a lot of blue water.

I now live in a terrace house and my garden is tiny as are all gardens in this area. During the 2016 referendum one neighbour erected a flagpole in his garden and flew and is still flying the Union Jack. I felt it sent a very strong message of the wrong kind.

Most councils here fly the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag side by side all the time. They lower them on certain days of mourning.

“ One GN poster thought the colours were not suitable;”
You are kidding ??!

nanna8

Most councils here fly the Aboriginal flag and the Australian flag side by side all the time. They lower them on certain days of mourning.

The Aboriginal flag is rather an oddity as it has a copyright which belongs to one man, I believe. Do Councils have to ask permission from him to fly it?

No, Lucca, I'm not kidding:

Marmadoit : The Welsh flag is the best flag by far. The Union flag is probably in second place. Blue and yellow is fine for IKEA but not really suitable for a flag.

Greta

No, Lucca, I'm not kidding:

Marmadoit : ^The Welsh flag is the best flag by far. The Union flag is probably in second place. Blue and yellow is fine for IKEA but not really suitable for a flag.^

??????