Since the SNP has garnered so much support over recent years to become a very credible opposition party, it is funny how this has affected the popularity of the Union Jack. It is noticeable how prevalent the cross of St George has become and you will find it hard to discover a more obvious example of this than at England football matches. It is rather funny that the remark made by Naga Munchetty has become so provocative in the news over the last week as this has been a massive over-reaction.
However, I think this dispute hides a fundamental truth that this flag is totally obsolete. I think this flag now only has historic value. The saltire no longer feels that it properly belongs to a national flag and attempts by "right on" newspapers like The Guardian to devise a replacement of the Union flag with the blue replaced by black to reflect the multi-cultural nature of the country does not answer the problem in the least. I am not sure how others feel on here but the rise in popularity and credibility of Scottish nationalism now feels like that there is an element of the Union Jack that does not want to be there and, in addition,it is something that a large proportion of English people now resent. Personally, I would like to see it removed from our "national flag," The cross of St George is a christian symbol which is hardly appropriate in a country where the 2nd most popular religion is Muslim and this is before you encounter the issue that it's origins stem from Eleanor of Aquitaine's marriage to the Plantagenet king Henry II. (i,e, It is more French than "English.") The St Patrick saltire is similarly Christian although it has unfortunate connections with the unpleasant Unionist elements of Irish politics. Wales, as a principality and not a country, is not represented at all. I wonder if last week's census will make it more appropriate for a future national flag to incorporate a crescent. We must be reaching the point where this is a credible argument.
I feel that the loyalty to flags is strangely pathetic and really only something that is of historical value. Most flags are comparatively modern and date from 19th and 20th century despite the symbolism being something that has it's origins in medieval history. I believe the Danish flag is actually the world's oldest and is early medieval in origin. The Union Jack was not created until 1801 and it's antecedents only go back as far as King James I. It is therefore well overdue for replacement .
I am inclined to agree with the assessment that some politicians adherence to the Union Jack is now reaching a point where it is unintentionally comic. It is strange that the Scottish saltire never gets questioned on the BBC but I would expect that this is largely due to Nicola Sturgeon's excellent liberal credentials. I don't like the fact that Scottish nationalists are hostile to the English who have been extremely patient with our neighbours north of the border and ,like the Irish unionists, it does have unpleasant overtones which are as repellent as those from the far right who adopt that flag of St George. I think have passed the point where the Union Jack has any value beyond comedy and must consider it something which no longer has the affection enjoyed by the Scottish saltire, the cross of St George and indeed the flag of the European Union. It is totally obsolete.
