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So around here, people have been hanging St George's and Union flags (i.e. England and UK) flags from lampposts.
This originated from a protest about a child not being allowed to give a speech about British culture during a "Culture Celebration Day" the school was holding.
From one perspective,
this is not really anything to worry about. Unfortunately, though, because normal people here don't fly british flags, they are somewhat associated with extremists and xenophobia.
So what is to be done?
I propose - not taking them down, but instead adding more flags of every variety. Including, but not limited to:
Country flags, for every peaceable country and association of countries.
Pride flags (of which, there are a /lot/).
Utility flags, such as the checkered 'end of race' flag, semaphore flags, International maritime signal flags, etc.
Windsocks
Free speech flags (i.e. decryption key flags)
Pirate flags, including particularly those for pirate crews from One Piece.
Why have thousands of St George's flags gone up in cities and towns?
https://www.bbc.co....ticles/c626vxyxgj6o
[Loris, Oct 28 2025]
Girl in union jack couldn't give 'British' speech
https://www.bbc.co....ticles/cyvj289y788o
She dressed as Ginger Spice. [Loris, Oct 28 2025]
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//maritime signal flags//
Use them to spell out a message that will offend the "anti" idiots, & see how long it takes for a complaint. Maybe run a wager? |
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I've been watching the debacle closely. |
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In what reality is it offensive to fly the flag of your own country 'in' your own country? |
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I tried to warn you guys. Insanity across the board. Zealots everywhere you look. |
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//In what reality is it offensive to fly the flag of your own country 'in' your own country?// |
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The trouble is, there are basically three common reasons to fly national flags in the UK:
1) Outside official governmental premises, and similar.
2) Chronologically near to football events involving the national team.
3) Because you're aligned to a fascist or xenophobic organisation. |
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Now, you're quite right - it shouldn't be this way. I'd say that's the best explanation of why there's this guerrilla protest happening at all - there's a groundswell of people who want to be able to show some patriotism.
I think that /should be/ fine. It's just unfortunate that the approach is misinterpreted, and sometimes forces a response perceived as adversarial.
Thus, my proposal - designed to reassure those who are concerned. |
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Must admit I'm surprised at the negative votes on what I thought was a rather inoffensive idea.
I would be interested in knowing the reasoning behind them. |
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//In what reality is it offensive to fly the flag of your own country 'in' your own country?//
Well now. In the context of the UK, specifically:
* One could be that the flag of your country is a country that you do not want to be a part of (viz 45% of population of Scotland did not, as of the last time of asking, want to be part of the UK).
* One could be because the flag of your country is the flag of what you view as an occupying force (viz the Union Flag in pro-unification areas of Northern Ireland) (in this case, no little proportion of the flying of the Union Flag is very deliberately intended to be offensive to pro-unification people who live in that country).
* But the main one (which covers both the above points) is that what the flag symbolises varies by flyer and by viewer. My working assumption is that the people flying St George's flags in England and (I am sorry to say) the people who strung up the saltire on the lampposts of Maryhill are flying these flags on the basis of an exclusionary, nativist definition of what it means to be a citizen (subject, yuk) of England or Scotland. In essence the flags do not mean "I love my country" so much as it means "I love my country the way I imagine it is and I don't want any forrins coming in and changing it." |
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What I like about the idea is that it tells of a new form of semaphore, where a nation's flag changes meaning when it is coupled with another nation's flag (or pride flag, for example). This nascent semaphore already exists, with anti-immigrant protestors in Glasgow distinguishing their saltire waving from that of the pro-immigrant flag waving, by coupling their saltire waving with waving also the butcher's apron, while the pro-gang waved saltire and Palestinian flag. But these are crude examples of simple duovexillologism, what finer meanings and alignments we can wring from delicately wrought arrays of varying selections of all the world's flags, regional, national, political, religious, etc etc usw. Croissant, to quote an anachronism. |
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As a data point: my brother in law has a fucking flagpole in his garden and he flies the Union Flag all year round. His They Work For You profile sez "Consistently voted for making it easier to remove someone's British citizenship" and "Almost always voted for stronger laws and enforcement of immigration rules" and "Almost always voted against a right to remain for EU nationals already in living in the UK". |
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There should be a rule, fly a flag if you must, but to do so, your house and surrounding area will be expected to measure up to an appropriate national standard. |
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So, if you've got a meticulously groomed front lawn, a gleaming, well valeted car and a generally impeccably-maintained frontage, then fly away. |
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If however, there is evidence of dog-turds, an abandoned fridge, and the decaying wreck of a motor in your drive, and/or you're flying the fucker upside down, then sorry, but this kind of behaviour will attract a hefty itemised fine for bringing the national flag into disrepute. |
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If you don't care enough about your country to tidy up, then you don't deserve to fly the flag. |
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Regards the idea, I tentatively support, if by sheer volume, we can drown out any meaning whatsover that might be carried by a particular flapping arrangement. I worry that it's more the overt nature of flying a flag in other people's faces (and the intended overt signalling that implies) that's at the root of the problem here, rather than anything specifically vexillologious. |
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Sounds like Britain just needs a new flag altogether devoid of any history.
I suggest something that implies a clean sheet--something pure... howabout a blank white flag? ;) |
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In America we find all of this a bit strange, as since flag is everywhere it can't be easily coopted by any particular group, save perhaps the type that also seem to love the Confederate Battle flag for some odd reason and voted for that one particular guy... |
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Sigh. I know it's our flag. But I associate the Union Jack, when not flown from a public building, with late middle-aged men, overweight, red-faced, with xenophobic opinions and a tendency to the belief that straightforward no-nonsense common sense is the solution to the world's non-straightforward, nuanced problems. |
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And the St George's flag I cannot mentally extricate from drunken yobs, arms around each other's shoulders, jumping up and down yelling "Eng-er-lund!" in some vaguely football based haze of Stella. |
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I know, stereotypes are caricatures and they certainly don't fit everywhere. If you're reading this and it's not you, don't worry, it's not you. But personally, I'm ashamed of what our flag represents, most of the time. |
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TL;DR: What Loris said in his first comment. |
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Maybe the flags make some people feel apprehensive. But how about charging a license fee of (say) £20 per month per street lamp flag, subject to conditions? That way everybody wins, the council could use this money to fix the roads for example. |
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What pisses me off about it is that only one countries flag is looked down upon. Flags of other countries can be flown with impunity. Even countries adverse to the one they are flying their cult-ish flags in. |
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It is, (yes I no nobody is laughing), a total joke.
Time to man-up boys, give your public servants a slap upside the head, and then go to work taking out the trash they were paid so handsomely to heap on you all. |
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