Patiotism?

In the wake of the World Cup the number of white flags with red crosses seems to have gone down a bit... which given some of the pre-tournament rhetoric does raise some interesting questions.

One of the things I recall hearing most of several weeks ago was that people thought that they were going to be asked not to display the flag. It seemed that my most patriotic countrymen (and women) were most upset that the police, shop assistants and pub owners would deprive them of being able to display the cross of St George in all it's glory just in case it offended the many foreigners in their midst.

The real problem is though, that unlike some of our neighbours we're not really a flag flying country. If you go to France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, the USA and Canada you will see their

respective flags flown everywhere; town halls, schools, offices, shops, even from people's houses or on poles in their front yards. However you hardly seem to see any of that here. So, why not?

I guess the first question is which flag! The name of our country is officially "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" and as such has a flag of it's own, the Union Flag (not the Union Jack as is often thought). However this flag was for a while back in the `70s and `80s the symbol used by the skinheads. Seen then by many as a either racist, repugnant, or both, the Union Flag became a symbol of everything that made our country bad. Even now openly racist groups such as the British National Party wrap themselves in this cozy banner and as a consequence most good Brits don't really want to be seen to associate themselves with it - unless there is some special event on. Even then, some still don't want to be associated with this flag as it represents institutions they don't believe in - such as the union for Scots and the Irish, the royal family in the case of republicans... there are probably many more reasons.

England, Wales and Scotland all have their own with long and sometimes bloody histories. Northern Ireland has it's own too but again feeling towards this flag probably depends on your political leanings (I know very little about this and don't want to get involved in any arguments about it...). In all fairness you probably see the Scottish and Welsh flags flown in their respective countries than you seem to here in England.

This brings me back to the English flag though and my main gripes about it's use. Ok, so my personal politics is anti-monarchy. I also see it as laughable that people don't approve of a European Union but are quite happy to live in a badly-balanced union called the UK. So, if I were going to fly a flag it would be the red and white St Georges cross every time. When asked my nationality I am always English not British. So, it really bugs me when the only time that people in my country decide that they want to fly the flag, no matter what, is when the football is on. If it's that important then these people should be happy to fly the flag no matter what. It's unfortunate that an Englishman's home is NOT his castle and that planning permission is required otherwise I'd happily fly the flag out front of my house.

Last of all though, what the hell is this flag with the word "ENGLAND" scrawled across the middle of the horizontal red stripe? It certainly isn't the flag of England as any true Englishman (or woman) would know. Please, if you have one, take it down, throw it away and get a proper one!