Is the Union Jack racist?

[cupcaske123]

Eamonn Holmes had a bit of an argument with a guest on GB News as to whether the Union Jack is racist.

I understand that the George Cross is associated with the Far Right but had never associated the Union Jack with racism.

Apparently people at a village hall in Norfolk didn't want to be accused of racism for flying the British flag.

I think it's madness, what do you think?

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/eamonn-holmes-gb-news-union-jack-b2595611.html

It's a uniquely British thing to hate yourself to the point of extinction

I never fly the Union Jack myself. I’m English, so during major football or rugby union tournaments, I fly the flag of St George.

But no, the Union Jack is not racist.

Right wingers love to be victims.

Many German people feel this way about overt displays of their flag, and are wary and suspicious of people who fly it outside their house etc - ever since Hitler and the Nazis, they have very negative associations of national flag flying. Exceptions usually are big sporting events etc. Like us.

A flag in and of itself cannot be racist.

What the flag stands for absolutely can be.

That woman is well known for being a shit stirrer and feels oppressed by everything and everyone. She is a professional victim.

But the Union Flag doesn't stand for racism.

It's the white ensign that the navy fly

Of course it's not.

All that's happened here is that some idiots at a village hall aren't sure if having a flag up will make them look racist and then it becomes a debate and then racists, who never miss an opportunity for a moan, will then start kicking off about 'are' country not being what it was when nothing has even happened.

That said, would I be happy if our village hall put up a flag (outside of eg the Euro's/World cup/Olympics/some royal twaddle)? Absolutely not.

Can't stand Nationalism or needless shows of patriotism and you can flame me for this all you want but I think it's chavvy.

My neighbour is flying a pirate flag? Is that allowed?
And it's about time ordinary people reclaimed the Union flag/ St George's flag. Leaving it to people like the NF is not doing any of us good.

Patriotism is not (automatically) nationalism.

It's good for community cohesion to have symbols we can all get behind.

IDK if it's allowed but I'd keep a close eye on him and hide your treasure.

It depends how it's being used.

No it's not racist in itself but if you go around waving it then you are making a statement which could be racist or inflammatory.

Okay on a town hall or in the context of celebrating the Olympics but would be inappropriate if someone who had never had a flag before decided to fly the union jack or England flag during the recent riots

It’s definetly been hijacked by right wing idiots. When I see racist/sexist/homophobic comments on social media 99% of the time the profile picture has an English/british flag in it

I was thinking of volunteering as cabin girl. I always liked Captain Pugwash. 😁

Drip, drip, drip.

@NewGreenDuck

This thread is giving me the urge to drape the coronation bunting on my front fence.

It just goes to show how much areas vary throughout the country!

We have them flying pretty much year round on the main street as bunting. Outside our town and village halls. County hall. Hospital. Shopping centre etc. Virtually all the pubs I can think of.

It's nearly always the Union Jack but also the English and Scottish flags and our county flag. There are 2 flagpoles in my very small cul de sac.

It’s a flag and we see it all over the place. On cushions, bedding, bunting, on other flags 😂

What nonsense

Not all countries have such a spectacularly brutal history of colonialism attached to them. If I were welsh I'd happily fly a welsh flag but I'm English and would never use either the St George or the Union Jack. Eddie Izzard says it all here

I think 🇬🇧 is fine on public / government buildings. Schools too. Positive symbol to bring people together.

In fact I wish we’d flown the EU 🇪🇺 flag alongside it, when we were still a member, as every other EU country does. Might have helped perceptions of EU membership, belonging and European-ness. Ah well, a road not traveled.

But I’d be wary of it on a village hall run by volunteers and if it was a rural place I’d definitely suspect nationalist attitudes at ploy.

I do like flag emojis, use them a lot. Favourite flag is definitely 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 through. Can’t beat a dragon.

No further north but yes it would get short shrift round here too.

Agree with previous poster. Depends where you live. In Belfast the Union Jack flag is often used to intimidate and mark territory. (As is the tricolour)
So while the regular British person doesn't see it as so, many others do.

It's a shame. The problem is I think is that racists use the union flag and St George's flag as a weapon to show how English/British they are. I can't think of another country where this happens, It does seem to remind people of our colonial past-some with pride, some with embarrassment and others with anger.

I remember an elderly relative pointing to a map of the world and saying proudly"this all used to be ours you know".