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The Great Realignment of Britain
“Since that law was relaxed, visitors to England—especially England outside central London—have noticed a proliferation of flags. But not the red-white-and-blue Union flag. The flag you most often see on private homes and cars is the red-and-white flag of England.”
David Frum
My Thoughts
I have long argued that part of England’s problem is that its identity has been subsumed by Great Britain and/or The United Kingdom. Seen as almost interchangeable. The Scots, Irish and Welsh are not only proud of their respective countries, but are recognized as independent nations with their own customs, languages, flags, patron saints … even their own parliaments.
The English … well, as Frum writes, you rarely see The George Cross flying. If a flag in England is flying it is more than likely the UnionJack. People might know who the patron saint of England is (St.George), but I bet if they know when St. George’s day is (April 23rd), they are not likely to celebrate it. (Yet they’ll turn out in droves for the patron saint of Ireland!). And as for a government for England, for the English … it doesn’t exist.
Sadly, the flag is has become associated with jingoism and national identity politics, skin heads … and that happened because nobody was looking after.
Maybe that is changing. Maybe it is time to change.