Flagman’s world of flags

Union Flag should be flown by schools says Essex MP

January 2nd, 2009

From the Braintree and Witham times

 

Essex County Council has been criticised by an MP for not encouraging schools to fly the Union Jack.

Bob Russell, member for Colchester, asked the authority to promote the practice after Government calls that the flag should be flown from public buildings.

But chief executive Joanna Killian said it was up to the individual school.

She added: “Schools regularly raise the issue of non-essential requests from national and local government, arguing that they impede them in the process of delivering the best possible education for pupils.

“The decision about whether or not to fly the Union Flag is one the council feels appropriate for schools to make on an individual basis.”

Mr Russell said he was disappointed by the response.

“How can flying the flag of your country possibly impede children’s education?” he said.

“I will now draw to the attention of both the Prime Minister and the secretary of state for children, schools and families the refusal of Essex County Council to encourage the county’s schools to fly the union flag.”

In the past, the Lib Dem MP has also complained that the National Curriculum makes no provision for children to be taught about the flags and patron saints of the countries of the United Kingdom.

Man told to take down ‘racist’ Scottish Saltire in hiw own home

December 5th, 2008

http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/east-fife-mail-news/Saltire-39racist39-blunder.4752202.jpracist

02 December 2008
By Maggie Millar
AN APOLOGY has been issued from Fife Council to a father-of-six who was ordered to take down a “racist” Saltire flag.
But gobsmacked Paul Steele from East Wemyss maintains he would never have obeyed the council – even when they threatened him with legal action.

A customer services team had come out to the house to carry out an inspection for flammable liquids. ADVERTISEMENT

“It was just as he was about to leave that an inspector told me to take down the Saltire because it was completely racist and they’d had complaints,” explained Mr Steele.

“It’s been there for a year and I’ve had no complaints, even from English neighbours.”

The Saltire is pinned up on the inside of Mr Steele’s livingroom window in McDuff Street.
The Saltire at Paul Steele’s East Wemyss home.
Mr Steele said: “If it was a Swastika I’d understand it, but not a Scottish flag in my own country!

“They told me if I didn’t take it down they would take legal steps to take it down.

“The flag’s staying where it is ” Afterwards, SNP Councillor David Alexander said he was “outraged by anybody being told to take the Scottish flag down for any reason.”

He commented: “There were issues to be dealt with but that was overstepping the mark.

“Why would anyone think they had the right to ask to take a flag down from the window?”

On Wednesday, following a detailed investigation, Fife Council issued an unreserved apology to Mr Steele for the embarrassment caused to him.
The Scottish Saltire - Blatantly related to…Scotland!
“The view of Fife Council is that displaying the Saltire – or any other national flag– at home is never a racist gesture,” said Jim Findlay, head of local services north for Fife Council.

“Our staff often work in very difficult and demanding circumstances, however, there was a serious error in the way we handled this issue.

“Our staff will be properly briefed to ensure it is not repeated again in the future.”

Mr Steele said he was happy the situation had been resolved He added: “I told one of the guys that day I could always put it up on my roof and he just laughed.

“He said it was political correctness gone crazy and he was right.”

Aussies in a flap over Nazi flag

October 21st, 2008

 http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/10/21/2397097.htm?section=australia

South Australia’s Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has ridden his bike, with an Australian flag displayed, to an Adelaide house where the Nazi flag has been on display.

Mr Atkinson spoke with a resident there about their action.

“There is a law against inciting racial hatred and it’s conjectural whether this would fit this law,” he said.

SA Premier Mike Rann has condemned displaying the Nazi flag in Australian society.

“Anyone who flies the Nazi flag, in my view, is un-Australian,” he said.

“Anyone who flies the Nazi flag, in my view, doesn’t deserve to have the protections that our diggers fought for.

“What kind of bonehead would fly the Nazi flag?”

Lawyer George Mancini chairs the Council for Civil Liberties and says it is hard to say whether a prosecution for flying the Nazi flag would succeed under racial vilification laws.

“I think it would technically in some respects suggest that we’re restricting people’s freedom to display a flag like that,” he said.

“I think in our society we can tolerate that. We don’t necessarily support it or agree with it.”

A resident of the house at suburban Croydon says the flag was left on display after a drunken party. It has now been taken down.

Russia allows citizens to fly the national flag

October 15th, 2008

Wow amazing, it must have been banned previously.

 Story

MOSCOW, Oct. 15 (UPI) — Anyone in Russia — not just state officials — can now legally fly the country’s flag, lawmakers say.

Under a law passed by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the use of the national flag by ordinary citizens, such as at sports events and on houses, will now be officially allowed, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Until now, the display of the Russian flag was technically restricted to officials and state occasions, although it was a law that was never actually enforced. The lawmakers who championed the measure say the removal of the technicality will promote patriotism in the country.

“There are moments in life when you want everybody to know that you are a citizen of a great nation, a Russian citizen,” Oleg Valenchuk, a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, told the news agency. “I believe the Russian flag carried by an ordinary person is a more striking and genuine manifestation of patriotism than state banners in many civil servants’ offices.”

RIA Novosti said the Russian flag, with its horizontal white, blue and red stripes, was officially adopted in 1896, discarded after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, reinstated in 1993 with slight changes and deemed official in 2000.

Blogger arrested for upside down flag

September 18th, 2008

This insane a blogger has been arrested in Malaysia for displaying an ipside down national flag on his web site.

Well we wouldnt want to upset malaysia would we?

So for any Malay police out there here is your flag…upside down

 Story

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysian authorities have arrested a second blogger, this time for displaying an upside down national flag on his website, according to a report Thursday.

Syed Azidi Syed Aziz, better known as Sheih Kickdefella, was arrested by police late Wednesday under the Sedition Act at his home in opposition-held northern Kelantan state, The Star daily reported.

“We were informed that the police were looking for us on Tuesday and waited for them but they didn’t show up,” his wife Bariah Ishak told the paper.

“We thought the worst was over but they came looking for him and so he surrendered,” she added.

Syed Azidi, known for his links to the opposition conservative Islamic PAS party, had recently organised a nationwide Internet campaign to fly the Malaysian flag upside down in a sign of protest over the country’s political and economic turmoil.

The campaign caused outrage in the conservative Muslim-led country, with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi ordering a police investigation into the matter.

Yap Swee Seng, director of the rights group Voice of the Malaysian People (Suaram), condemned the arrest.

“It is a violation of freedom of expression. It is aimed to strike fear against those who criticise the government. It will have a chilling effect on bloggers and other Internet users.

“Clearly it is aimed to curtail dissent against the current leadership,” he added.

Syed Azidi is the second blogger to get in trouble with Malaysian authorities over website content.

Prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin, who has targeted government figures on his website, was arrested last Friday under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Raja Petra, founder of the controversial Malaysia Today website, has already been charged with sedition and defamation after linking Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife to the sensational murder of a Mongolian woman.

Rights groups say about 63 people are being held under the ISA, which allows for renewable two-year periods of detention without trial and is normally used against suspected terrorists.

The act has also been used to lock up opponents of the government. Five Hindu rights activists were detained last year under it after mounting a protest against government race policies.

 

 

Take down British Army flag man told

September 16th, 2008

 

 From the Telegraph

Sep 2008

Council officials warned Dave Dingvean, 46, that flying the ‘non-ceremonial’ flag of the British Army outside the front of his house was in “breach of planning control” and he would end up in court if he did not remove it.

Mr Dingvean, a volunteer for the British Army Association, was told that the national flag of any country was acceptable but not regimental flags of the armed forces.

The demolition contractor from Tolleshunt Major near Maldon, Essex, said it was a ‘treacherous’ decision.

“A friend gave it to me and I decided to fly it to support our troops” he said “Someone must have seen it and reported me because within two days I had a letter from the council telling me to take it down.”

The letter from planning officers Maldon Council said: “It has come to the attention of the council that a tall flag pole has been erected at the front of the above property. A site inspection has shown that a red Army flag is being flown.

“Such a flag does not benefit from any sort of consent under the Town and Country Planning Regulations 2007.”

Mr Dingvean, a member of the British Army Association, which promotes the welfare of troops and bring ex-servicemen together, has expressed his anger at the decision.

“This is treacherous. It is petty minded, they are not thinking about the troops. And no one in the village has complained to me.

“So I can fly the flag of Iraq, Baghdad or Afghanistan but not the army flag. It’s ridiculous. It’s a show of support,” he said.

In protest, the father of two is now flying the national flag of Saudi Arabia on a flagpole outside his semi-detached bungalow.

According to the Department for Communities and Local Government, only the national flag of any country, the flag of the European Union, the Commonwealth, the United Nations, English county flags and saints’ flags associated with any particular county can be flown.

Furthermore, the legislation says that no ‘advertising material’ can be added to the flagstaff.

A Council spokesman said the flag breached Planning Regulations and “Unfortunately, this flag is not one of them and the Council have advised the resident that this is the case. The Council would be more than willing to advise residents on such issues in the future.”

In February, a former Gurkha who spent 28 years in the Queen’s Gurkha Signals, was banned from flying the regiment’s flag from his Nepalese restaurant.

Asbahadur Gurung, 70, whose family served in the Army for 70 years, wanted to display his former regiment’s colours, however, council officials said the green and white flag was a form of advertising and refused him permission. But they advised him that he did not need permission to run up the flag of any country, the UN or the EU.

EU flag to be ‘revived’

September 12th, 2008

I am not really sure that the EU flag needs to be ‘revived’ as the Telegraph suggests.

They are fairly popular if our sales are anything to go by, it is an attractive flag. However it seems it is being ‘revived’ along with an EU ‘national anthem’ I wonder what the words will be??

From the Telegraph

The flag, a politically correct motto and Beethoven’s Ode to Joy will all be used more by the European Parliament as it tries to help citizens identify more easily with the EU.

But Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party and an MEP himself, has accused his parliamentary colleagues of “trying to ram them down our throats”.

MEPs said: “Symbols are vital elements of any communication process.”

The politicians stated they “convey an emotional image of the underlying values of the organisations they represent.”

With this in mind, they have decided to make more use of the flag and the motto “United in Diversity.” It is to be printed on all material emanating from the European Parliament.

More controversially, the finale from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Ode to Joy, is also to be played more at official occasions.

It has unfortunate associations, having been used previously to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday and as the anthem of a socially divided Rhodesia under Ian Smith.

Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany had said that eliminating the use of symbols was a key difference between the EU constitution, which was rejected in French and Dutch referenda in 2005, and the Lisbon Treaty which followed.

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, has also welcomed their reduced importance, telling the House of Commons last July: “It is good that the symbols, flags and anthems, which distracted attention from the discussion of the European constitutional treaty, are done away with so that we can focus on what will make the EU useful to this country - jobs, climate and energy, the issues that matter to ordinary people.”

Mr Farage told The Times: “We were told that the symbols would disappear .. now they are trying to ram them down our throats.”

 

Telegraph says fly the flag

August 24th, 2008

 Nigel Farndale in the Telegraph

Reader, if you seek Margaret Thatcher’s monument, look around you next time you are in Terminal 5 - not at the terminal itself, but the planes outside.

Most are British Airways, and the sight of all those tailfins, row upon row decorated with Union flags, will lift your spirits to an altitude of 35,000ft.

It was Lady Thatcher, you will recall, who shamed BA into reverting to the Union flag tailfins after it experimented with having “world art” on them instead - ethnic designs from third world countries.

The Union flag, BA argued, looked “arrogant and detached”. But then Lady Thatcher saw a model of a BA 747, reached into her handbag for her handkerchief and tied it around the offending tailfin. A crushing gesture.

Virgin Atlantic took advantage of the controversy by painting Union flags on the vertical winglets of its aircraft, and it still tickles me whenever I see this.

I was in Terminal 5 for the first time last week, on my way to Miami. I had never been to Miami airport before either, and was struck by how similar in one respect it is to America’s other major airports - JFK, LAX, Washington, Chicago, Houston.

As you enter the passport control area you are confronted with a dazzling display of large, silky Stars and Stripes hanging from flag poles, sometimes as many as 20 or 30 in a long row. It never fails to quicken the pulse and remind you exactly which superduperpower you are visiting.

This is the home of the brave, the flags say. Take us on our terms. I know the Americans are funny about their flag in a way that other countries are not. They drape it unapologetically outside their houses and it is a federal crime to damage one, but still, haven’t we gone too far the other way?

Whenever I fly back from America into Gatwick or Heathrow my heart sinks. There isn’t a Union flag in sight. Not one. You could be entering Belgium or the Isle of Man. The only indication you have entered Great Britain at all is a large white sign saying “UK Border”.

I don’t get it. Is it that we don’t have national pride in a way that Americans do? Is it that, unlike them, we feel like a nation of failures? Or are we are ashamed of who we are and what we stand for?

Curiously, another of Margaret Thatcher’s legacies is an embarrassment about the British flag felt by those on the Left.

They associate it with jingoism and bigotry. On Mock the Week on Thursday night a young comedian was asked to improvise a comedy riff on a picture of a Union Jack mug. He said he had been on the Tube and heard some “prick” ranting at “someone of a foreign persuasion”: “Why don’t you go home?” To which the someone said: “I am going home, mate, that’s what I’m doing on this Tube.”

Not funny, but revealing. To that comedian the Union flag meant racism, nothing more.

Well that’s a shame. It’s also silly. The Union flag is one of the most beautiful and potent symbols in the world, an evocation of freedom, democracy and tolerance.

Those who think it ugly must be in agony at the moment, having to watch British Olympians on the news every night draped in it. But perhaps they won’t have to for much longer.

It seems to be a matter not of if but when Scotland leaves the Union. If there is still a UK by the next Olympics it would be nice to think that visitors arriving at Gatwick and Heathrow could enjoy contemplating its flag as they got their passports checked. They would find it a thrilling and uplifting sight.

And now would be the moment to address this. The break up of BAA, the owner of Gatwick and Heathrow, means that those airports may soon be in competition, with each trying to become more eye-catching than the other.

If one introduced flags, the other would surely follow.

Flag saves girls life

July 31st, 2008

They just have so many uses!

 Source

 DIXIE, Wash. —

A lost 12-year-old girl found a vacant cabin in the Blue Mountains and wrapped herself in the flag to stay warm until she was found.

Trisha Patterson of Camas was found Wednesday morning by ground searchers about 10 miles east of Walla Walla.

Blue Mountain Television reports she was checked by medics at a fire station at Dixie and reunited with her mother.

Trisha had became separated from her family during a hike Tuesday evening near her grandfather’s cabin.

Sheriff’s deputies searched overnight with help from volunteers on foot, ATVs, motorcycles and a helicopter.

War veterans banned from flying the flag because it is ‘too risky’

July 26th, 2008

So what exactly do the council have against the national flag?  The mind boggles.

From the Telegraph

Royal British Legion members in Calne, Wilts, have campaigned for months for the right to hoist the flag over the town hall, amid opposition from councillors.

They believed they had won the battle when the council agreed to consider handing over control of the flag to the Legion.

However, the Legion says the council has now produced a 50-point health and safety document which would prevent anyone with specified physical ailments from accessing the town hall roof.

The criteria rules out most members of the local Legion branch, as they are aged over 60. Younger members are employed and the Legion said they would not have the time to do maintenance and raise the flag.

John Ireland, a local councillor, who is also the Legion branch chairman, said: “We have fought bravely and many of us risked our lives in a world war so we are perfectly capable of going up a ladder a few feet to put a flag up on a roof.

“It is absolutely ridiculous to be talking about health and safety. All the council is trying to do is find excuses to stop us flying the flag.”

Accusing the council of “sneaky” behaviour, he added: “What they gave in one hand, they took away in the other, knowing full well that none of us are fit enough to match those rules.”

Margaret Russell, the Legion branch treasurer, said: “The whole point is that we want to show the people of the town and the brave families of those who died, and troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, that we are proud of them.

“The only thing which represents them is the flag and the town hall is the best place to put that.

“The council has tried to prevent us from doing this and the health and safety rules are just the latest hurdle they have put in our way.”

Last November, the 19-member council rejected Mr Ireland’s proposal to fly the flag permanently over the town hall.

— Next Page »

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