This looks just awful, the Union jack is a pretty internationally recognised symbol, lets hope this is just some nonsense which will just fade away.

http://www.yourvale.co.uk/news/where-i-live/2008/07/16/welsh-influenced-union-flag-launched-at-llangollen-105722-21352602

A CONTROVERSIAL campaign to redesign the Union Flag with Welsh elements has been launched by an English flag fanatic at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen last week.

Campaigner John Yates, from Milton Keynes, has amended the nation’s favoured flag to include the colours of the traditional Welsh flag, and is hoping the Welsh people will get behind his bold new design.

“It just came like a bolt out of the blue to me. With two crosses and two saltires in the four flags of the UK countries, it was an entirely natural design of flag,” said John, 60.

Mr Yates says the Eisteddfod, held last week at Llangollen’s Royal International Pavilion, was a natural place to garner support for his proposals, because it was exactly two years ago at the 2006 Eisteddfod when he came up with the idea for his creation.

“I had struggled with the idea of a new Union Flag for over 30 years but it was at the Eisteddfod that I saw someone selling the St David’s flags. It was like an answer to a maiden’s prayer.”

The new design mixes the three existing flags from the United Kingdom - England’s cross of St George, Ireland’s saltire of St Patrick and Scotland’s blue and white colours - with the black and yellow cross of St David, used by many as an unofficial flag for the Welsh nation.

Wales’ official flag, The Red Dragon, was not included in Yates’ design because it did not match the aesthetic embraced by the Union Flag.

Clwyd South MP, whose constituency includes Llangollen, said he welcomed the proposals.

“I fully support better representation of Wales on the Union Flag. I have signed a parliamentary petition supporting such a change along with several of my Welsh colleagues. The flag should mean something to everyone in the Union and instil pride in Great Britain as a whole.”

Yates says that along with parliamentary support, he has also received favourable comments from the Queen regarding the new design.

For more information and to support John’s campaign, contact 01908 606362.

Who knows, you might win a holiday there!

 From the associated press

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has announced a competition to design a new national flag and is calling on Iraqis and artists and designers inside and outside of the country to take part.

Lawmaker Mufeed al-Jazairi announced the competition on Tuesday. He says interested people have until the end of September to submit their designs.

Al-Jazairi says a committee will select three designs to be presented to the parliament, which will vote on a new flag by the end of this year.

Earlier this year, Iraq’s parliament voted to strip the three green stars of Saddam Hussein’s toppled Baath party from the country’s flag. But parliament kept the script of “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is Great” in green.

The new forum can be found here: flagwire.net

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/449533

They are in a bit of a flap over in Canada over rigid stands for their national flags on Canada day.

It is a good way of protecting flags and prolonging their life (they tend to fray at the end) but to the purist eye I guess they are not as visual.

You can buy Candaian maple leafs here by the way!

From the Glasgow Herald

REGIMENTAL standards thought to have been found after the Battle of Waterloo by Sir Walter Scott have been dismissed as “tourist tat”.

The four flags - described as three French and one Scottish - were heralded as an important discovery when they were found recently in a cupboard at Abbotsford House, the author’s home near Melrose, Roxburghshire.

They were thought to be price less souvenirs taken from Waterloo by Scott in the days immediately after the 1815 battle in what is now Belgium.

But even before they take centre stage in a £10million campaign to boost falling visitor numbers at Abbotsford, critics have pointed out that one standard apparently from a French regiment has English writing on it.

Another appears to be Russian - even though the Russians were not involved at Waterloo.

Amateur historian Bob Burnett, from Edinburgh, said: “The standard purporting to be that of the French 105th regiment of the line says just that, 105th.

“Unless Napoleon was in the habit of having his military standards made up in Britain in the English language, the suffix to the numerals would have been e or eme.

“I regret that Sir Walter was, like many of us, sold the tourist tat of the day.” Another flag described as being English is now thought be Imperial Russian.

National Army Museum spokesman Julian Farrance said: “We have the eagle headpiece and the flagpole taken from the 105th regiment here in the museum in London.

“It is almost certainly impossible that the flag and the flagpole would have been separated at the time - they would have been together.

“The idea that the flag would have been left behind for Walter Scott to just pick up from the battlefield is unfathomable.

“Frenchmen would have, and did, give their lives to defend it and protect it.”

Abbotsford Trust executive manager Jacquie Wright last week described the standards as an “amazing discovery”.

Yesterday, she said: “We just don’t know what they are. We are sending photos to various people to have them authenticated but they are definitely from the right period.”

and all announced on the anniversary of the battle!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/south_of_scotland/7458741.stm

Flags from the battlefield at Waterloo have been found in a cupboard at the home of Sir Walter Scott.

The four banners, which date from 1815, were discovered by trustees sorting through Abbotsford, Scott’s home near Melrose in Roxburghshire.

The novelist brought them from the scene of the battle, which he visited after hearing of Napoleon’s defeat.

The Abbotsford Trust, which runs the house, hopes the standards can be restored and put on public display.

Very fragile

Jacquie Wright, executive manager of the trust, said: “We were very excited to find the banners. They are very rare.

“As you can imagine, they have been lying in a cupboard since 1815 rolled up in bits of paper so the material is very fragile.

“He collected other things, which were on show because he put them on show but these things were actually put away in the cupboard.

“We would absolutely love to have them on display one day.”

She added: “It may be that one of the family knew that the banners were there but we had no idea of their existence until just recently when we unravelled them.”

Scott, author of classics such as Waverley and Ivanhoe, was interested in military history and collected many relics.

Rob Roy’s gun and Montrose’s sword are among the items on display at Abbotsford.

Scott was allowed on to the battlefield at Waterloo and took three French and one English banner, some of which have bullet holes through them.

Inspired by the battle, he wrote a poem The Field Of Waterloo.

Abbotsford is full of souvenirs Scott collected throughout his life and was first opened to the public in 1833, five months after his death.

It is run by the Abbotsford Trust, which must raise around £10m to fully restore the house.

The Battle of Waterloo took place in Belgium on 18 June 1815 and saw a French army of 124,000 men led by Napoleon fight the armies of six nations.

The 97,000-strong British-Dutch army was led by the Duke of Wellington and another 117,000 men were led by Field-Marshal Blucher, a Prussian.

After eight hours, the battle ended in defeat for the French.

I see this over the net, most flag related stories are from the US, and more of them seem to involve people bruning them, for whatever reason.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1407158~Veterans_furious_over_Manassas_Park_flag_burnings.html

Manassas Park, Va. (Map, News) - The burning of American flags on the doorsteps of Manassas Park veterans has outraged the men on the eve of Memorial Day weekend.

The city’s police department and fire marshal reported three flags were burned in recent weeks.

“Everyone I told was infuriated and out of their seats. That’s like fighting words, to burn the United States flag,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Kaess, whose flag was reduced to ruins by a blaze.

“I’ve been reading on some blogs on the Internet and there are people afraid to fly American flags. It’s a shame,” Kaess said.

He returned from a weekend of reserve duty to discover his flag was missing. He thought it was swept away in a rainstorm, only to learn later the pole was smothered in soot.

Kaess bought a new flag that night.

He hasn’t been the only one forced to buy a new version of Old Glory.

“I have a lot of respect for the flag and I don’t have any respect for people who don’t,” added Willie Leal, a veteran of nine years of duty who works for the Department of Homeland Security.

“For someone walking on my property to my house and light my flag is very disturbing,” he said. “I don’t know what message they are trying to send, but it is not welcomed.”

Because the flag was mounted to the Leal family’s house by the garage, the fire could have spread to the house’s vinyl siding had a larger fire engulfed his 3-foot by 5-foot flag.

“It didn’t fully ignite, seemed like they were trying to burn it with a lighter,” he said.

Both men described the vandalism as out of place for the community.

“We’ve never had any problem. Nobody drives by fast, there’s no loud music. For this to happen, it’s very surprising,” said Leal, who bought a $20 flag Thursday evening.

While Kaess said he was warned that replacing the flag could draw the vandals back, he didn’t hesitate.

“I got a cotton one. It’s not going up as easy as the satin one.”

From the Norwegian news site Aftenposten  

http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article2441562.ece

Flag back on soccer uniforms

After thousands of sports fans cried foul over its removal, the Norwegian flag will once again grace the front of the uniforms of players on the national soccer teams.

This is the new insignia that set off an uproar among sports fans in Norway. They didn’t dislike it, but didn’t want it to replace the flag. PHOTO: LISE ÅSERUD/SCANPIX

Related stories:

Flag may fly again on national team uniforms - 22.05.2008

New soccer uniforms don’t sport the flag - 21.05.2008

Massive outcry clearly took the Norwegian soccer federation (Norges Fotballforbund, The Football Association of Norway, NFF) by surprise. Officials had expected they’d be able to introduce a new design for players’ jerseys as they saw fit.

They thought wrong. Reaction was strong and largely negative to a new insignia that replaced the Norwegian flag with a dragon-like design meant to signify Norway’s Viking heritage. A smaller flag insignia was relegated to the back of the jerseys.

Players, govenrment officials and sports fans alike were highly offended, not least since a popular Norwegian motto runs along the lines of “playing with the flag on your chest.” The Norwegian flag is a cherished symbol of national unity among most Norwegians, and they wave it often.

The government minister in charge of culture and sports, Trond Giske, was among the most high-profile critics of NFF’s decision, taken without input from outside its boardroom. “This is not NFF’s team, it’s Norway’s team,” Giske pointed out on national TV earlier in the week.

NFF officials appeared humbled on Friday. “We just have to accept this criticism,” said NFF secretary general karen Espelund. “We have been much too poor at listening.”

It remained unclear exactly how a new flag insignia would look, and one NFF official hinted it may still incorporate the dragon design. Others want just the flag, pure and simple.

Newspaper Aftenposten reported Friday that the main reason NFF had sought a new uniform design was because the old one was too easy to imitate. They were frustrated by counterfeit national squad jerseys on the market.

All the papers are carrying this story but I just hesitate because I personally doubt he was told to remove it for being racist, more likely he was told to remove it because it obstructed his view.

Here is the story as told by the Express: