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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask my neighbour about England flag bunting?

395 replies

nuffinthemule · 30/05/2014 16:12

My neighbour is outside on a ladder attaching England-flag bunting to the lampost outside his house (on the pavement). Is there a sport-related reason for hanging bunting this weekend that I have forgotten about or am I right to be slightly wtf? We live in a very multicultural area and I think it looks a bit aggressive and unwelcoming, although I accept it might not have been his intention. I know the neighbour to say hello to only and although he's always been reasonably friendly I have tbh been keeping a bit of distance as I know other neighbours have fallen out with him. Would you ask him why he is hanging it, do you think? Or am I being paranoid? And if you agree it is a bit dodgy how do I get him to take it down?

OP posts:

AllAboveBroad · 30/05/2014 17:21

Sorry haven't rtft but wtaf?! Is it an issue if the French flag is put up in France etc? It's England's national flag and it makes me so cross that people get ansty about it. Yes, I appreciate that some groups have adopted it for racist means but they are only allowed to adopt the English flag for those racist reasons if English nationals let them and stop being so afraid of being proud to be English.
If he were hanging swastikas OP then fair enough but this is England, so it wouldn't have bothered me even of there was no sporting event coming up.

AllAboveBroad · 30/05/2014 17:24

Oh and all the residents of the multicultural place you live in are still resident in England, regardless of their ethnicity. If the English flag offends them in England then that says more about their views on multiculturalism than anything else.

squoosh · 30/05/2014 17:24

Bunting, whether with flags or flowers or cute little animals is one trend I would like to see die a painful death.

Fuck off bunting.

So YANBU on that count OP.

bennjerry · 30/05/2014 17:29

I think it's a shame that groups such as the BNP have turned the English flag into such a negative symbol to be honest. One of our neighbours is Welsh and he has a Welsh flag in his car. Doesn't offend me at all! If I were living in another country I wouldn't care at all if they chose to hang bunting of their flags.

AllAboveBroad · 30/05/2014 17:31

I'm planning on DS wearing this on England match days. Oh dear, the folk at Sainsburys must have my card marked as a right old racist....

To ask my neighbour about England flag bunting?

londonrach · 30/05/2014 17:39

World Cup, wimbledon.....my english towel will be out soon..... Hope I'm not dodgy. Just come back from Normandy and loads of English, USA, German and French flags up due to 70th dd anniversary. Why can't people be proud of their country. (I hate football but if we do well will suddenly get very interested)

AgaPanthers · 30/05/2014 17:52

Need to order my Confederate flag I think.

coldwater1 · 30/05/2014 17:57

Oh ffs. This is all we are going to hear through the whole world cup, people whinging about the England flag. Can i make a suggestion?! Walk around with your eyes closed, you won't get offended then.

Idontseeanyicegiants · 30/05/2014 17:59

I want a vexed tablecloth...

squoosh · 30/05/2014 17:59

The whole world cup? Nah, just the short time England is in it.

coldwater1 · 30/05/2014 18:04

Lol true. Ok, we are going to hear this a thousand times a day all the while England are in the world cup!

MmeLindor · 30/05/2014 18:09

Um, am I the only one who thinks that you have all been a bit mean to the OP?

She is obviously uninterested in sports, since she didn't know there was a match on tonight (neither did I btw) and hadn't connected the flags to the upcoming world cup.

I read it that she was worried for her neighbours, and that they might feel uncomfortable if the guy was putting the bunting up for a different reason. I am sure that there are plenty of people who live in multicultural areas who are a bit worried about the rise of UKIP.

To say she is 'everything that is wrong with this country' is blooming unkind -- and since when did MN turn into the Daily Mail?

AgaPanthers · 30/05/2014 18:14

I went to watch the last World Cup in South Africa and was quite pleased England got knocked out, because English football fans are in large part violent feral thugs. The Uruguayans we met instead were very pleasant.

(Random aside.)

SconeRhymesWithGone · 30/05/2014 18:23

I just don't understand why Americans living in America fly an American flag outside their home.

I think it's tradition more than anything else. I like it because it is a unifying factor in a very (at this moment in time) divided nation. In my neighborhood, most people only fly the flag on national holidays. Monday was Memorial Day. You fly the flag at half staff until noon and then raise it to full staff. I am a leftie Democrat; as I was on our porch raising the flag at noon, my rightie Republican neighbor was doing the same thing. We smiled and waved at each other. It was nice.

Besides, we are not the only country that likes to fly the flag. Ever been to Denmark?

Pipbin · 30/05/2014 18:42

I think I have mixed feelings on seeing the England flag because of its association with the football violence we saw in the 70s and 80s.
I grew up in an area with no real football support and I had no football supporters in my family. All I knew of football, and in all honesty the cross of St George, was seeing it draped around violent football fans on the news.

somewheresomehow · 30/05/2014 18:47

Are we not allowed to support our national team any more.
Its an England flag are funnily enough we live in England, it is not a racist flag it is our national flag

Sheldonswhiteboard · 30/05/2014 18:51

It's the English national flag! Maybe he is reclaiming it from the racist thugs.

squoosh · 30/05/2014 19:19

'Besides, we are not the only country that likes to fly the flag. Ever been to Denmark?'

God yes, the Danes are obsessed with their flag. They put it on birthday cakes and everything. I do find it a bit strange.

Shallishanti · 30/05/2014 19:30

I don't know if any of you read the thread about ethnic minorities in the great outdoors, but there was a link in it to a very interesting article written by someone who took their Punjabi mother on a country walk. Reflecting on his experience of going to the countryside as a visible ethnic minority, he said he would avoid going in a pub/cafe which was flying union jack/st george flag. NOT because he was offended by it: because in his experience there was then a risk he would not be welcome there. Not a certainty- a risk he wouldn't choose to take.
In the light of this I don't think the OP is unreasonable. I'm not saying no one should display the flags- just that they should be aware of the effect they may have.

Kewcumber · 30/05/2014 19:33

I'd hang a welsh one out for DH... But Wales didn't qualify! Tee Hee. He's not bitter.

Biscuitcrumb - hang one out for London Welsh who are in the final leg of the playoffs against Bristol on Wednesday to get back into th Premiership.

COME ON YOU WELSH!

(There's football as well?!)

LynetteScavo · 30/05/2014 19:39

Actually, I think it's really sad that the St Georges/Union flag is seen as being used by those who are racist.

There is an area near me that has an awful lots of St Georges flags, and the BNP hold their meeting in the local pub...and £1 coins given in change from the pub often have BNP stickers on. So I'm guessing certain people fly flags more than others, but really wish it wasn't the case.
Maybe everyone should start flying flags so it isn't.

We could have a "reclaim the flag" campaign.

MrsMikeDelfino · 30/05/2014 19:43

There's an England match on tonight. So I can almost guarantee that'll be the reason he's decided to hang one. To show support for his country. Not piss you off and look aggressive.

OneStepCloser · 30/05/2014 19:45

reclaim the flag would be a great idea,

but, I can see exactly what the OP is saying, sadly it has been hijacked by BNP/EDL and other racists to be used in an aggressive manner by many and many people wont fly one because they dont want to be seen as that.

emms1981 · 30/05/2014 19:46

I've heard everything now.

AcrossthePond55 · 30/05/2014 19:54

We fly our flag year 'round as do many Americans, especially since 9/11. It just has to do with pride in and love for our country. Even with all her faults and all our political disagreements most of us still believe in America, even if she is a little ragged around the edges at times. And you all have a great country too, one to be very proud of even if a lot of you think that Lady Britannia is getting a little ragged, too. I think the difference is that we tend to be a little more open with our patriotism whilst you hold your love of country a little closer to your hearts. Nothing wrong with either approach.

It's too bad when what should be a beloved symbol becomes, instead, a sign that is used by a fringe group for their own ends. Take it back and let it fly! That's the only way to stop a negative connotation.

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