> On Mon, 29 Nov 1999, Laserlight wrote:
Mmmmm. A rather sore point for us English, as even in our own country it seems
to be politically incorrect to be proud of being English (as opposed to
British). Fine for Scots, Welsh etc. to fly their own flags, but the Cross of
St.George (red cross on white field, the English national flag), and to some
extent the Union flag itself, is now sadly synonymous with
football hooligans and extreme right-wing thugs.... :-/
BTW, though everyone (Brits included) generally calls it the Union Jack, AFAIK
that is technically the name for it when flown as a naval ensign
(ie:
on the jackstaff of a ship). In non-marine use it is correctly just the
Union flag.
On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 23:12:36 +0000, Ground Zero Games
<jon@gzero.dungeon.com> wrote:
> Mmmmm. A rather sore point for us English, as even in our own country
That is REALLY too bad. As a Scot (and son of a Scots Nationalist) I actually
have no problem with the English being proud of being English. They should!
And the Scots should be proud of being Scots, and the the same for the Welsh
and the Northern Irish. And they should all be proud of being British. It's
sad when a national symbol is co-opted...
> BTW, though everyone (Brits included) generally calls it the Union
I believe you're right, although don't quote me on it! *S*
In message <38443707.3227734@smtp.interlog.com> agoodall@interlog.com
> (Allan Goodall) writes:
I think that's a very naive sentiment, Allan. Northern Ireland has a great
many people who have every reason not be proud of being British, and frankly
don't want to be.
If English national identity is fairly thin because there's ten times as many
of us as Scots. Yorkshire pride is more relevant around my way than English
pride... battling on about being English will just get you funny looks.
> It's sad when a national symbol is co-opted...
I think this very exagerated, as is most woeful complaining about "political
correctness". No one has a problem when the Union Jack is found propping up
Ginger Spice's cleavage, or when the St.George's Cross flys from a church
tower, or whatever.
> >BTW, though everyone (Brits included) generally calls it the Union
This is one that pedants can argue either way. There is no Academie Anglais
regulating our language, which is defined by it's common usage. If everybody
calls it the Union Jack, then it's the Union Jack. I like the name, with it's
colourful derivation and I like the flag for it's aestetic qualities as well
as it's history.
I also like pointing out that we've sneaked the (white) cross of St.Denis (a
French symbol) into it, with St.George stamped firmly on top.
The subject line is correct. It is completely off topic now.