Do you see the union jack as being an english flag?

S

samanthajane

Registered User
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Me and the bf had this discussion while on holiday. And he brought it up today as well, and wanted me to post here to see what others thought, since we just cant agree.

I'm english, I dont see the union jack as being an english flag i see it as representing all the countries. England has it's own flag, as does wales, scotland and northern Ireland.

In his opionion he will never see the union jack as being a flag of all of them and will always see it as just being an english flag because it was the english who created the flag and forced it on countries they had conquered ( his exact words that me made me type )

There is no right or wrong in this just a difference of opinions...so what does everyone think of this.

Do you see the union jack as just another English flag?
 
I see it as an English flag, as in it represents people who are loyal to the queen.

Some Scottish people would be loyal and I am sure they are happy with it , but I don't think you will get that answer in the other half of Glasgow.
 
Yes, in a nutshell

If you watch an international football match, it's rare to see Scottish or Welsh fans with Union jacks, very common for English fans to fly it (as well as the St George I have to say).

I actually asked this question of a Scottish guy in the office here, he sees the Union Jack as being more English then British
 
+1 to both.

I would add that Rangers/Celtic type allegiances aside, the union jack would mean very little to the majority of even vaguely nationalistic Scots - IME they would opt for St Andrew's flag in nearly all cases.

Crossed with Mpsox.
 
It is more English for the reasons mentioned above. Also, the English flag (St George) doesn't really have any official recognition. They fly the Union Jack from Government buildings (Even on St Georges Day)
 
But why would they fly the union jack at football matches? There isn't a uk team so of course they would fly their country's flag.

For the likes of wimbledon and the olympics, you see a lot of union jacks, but you have no idea if the person waving them is english, scottish or welsh.

Glad that you got the answer from a scottish person, i was interested in what the scottish and welsh thought of this.
 
samanthajane said:
...because it was the english who created the flag and forced it on countries they had conquered ( his exact words that me made me type )
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Sorry Samantha but LOL - conjures up an image of you typing under duress whilst he stands behind you in a balaclava or something!
 
I would definitely put the union jack down as British. To me, it always brings back memories of dodgy package holidays years ago when we would frequently roll our eyes at the 'Brits abroad' with their Union jack shorts, towels, tatoos, tee shirts etc! - I would never once put them down as being Welsh or Scottish!
 
Caveat said:
Sorry Samantha but LOL - conjures up an image of you typing under duress whilst he stands behind you in a balaclava or something!
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Haha that was how it went down lol. i wasn't allowed to post it untill he was happy with what i said said and written it word for word how he wanted


See i dont understand this, because if you see it as being british then that does include the scottish and the welsh, and north ireland.

I think just most people would just say british when they actually mean english.

I must ask some english people that i know, maybe because of what happen we just automatically dont want it to be seen like it's "our flag". Not that i really think of it that much but the first thing that pops into my head when you mention the union jack would be the UK.
 
I think that it's primarily used or revered in England (apart for a certain section of Norn Iron of course). For example I dont think I've ever seen one at a Scottish or Welsh match, they use their own flags.

While at an England match the majority of flags would probably be the St. Georges Cross (edit: cross of David were a Jewish thing innit), I know of another name involving "apron" - bascially white with a red cross), but I'd say you get a good few union jacks as well.

So to answer your question I think it would be regarded as primarily an english flag (even to those who know it represents the United Kingdom or GB or just B ..... more than England anyway).

Shouldnt you post on a pre-dominantly english site to get a better feeling for how the people themselves view it?
 
The union jack is the British flag and is the national flag of all of them whether they are English, Welsh, Scottish etc.

St. Georges Cross, St Andrews Cross, Welsh Dragon etc. are all just regional flags with no national status as England, Scotland and Wales are not, legally speaking, seperate countries. They are the equivalent of our provinces.
 
In the interests of accuracy, it's the Union Flag.
It only becomes the Union Jack when flown from a ships mast.

100% agree with ney001, fwiw.
 
There shouldnt be any Scottish or Welsh teams allowed in National team competitions as they are not countries. Its a bid sad really the way that they go on with this pretence that they are independent countries just because a quirk in sporting history allows them to field soccer and rugby teams.
 
Prescient words...
source: Wikipedia
 

They are countries. They compete as separate countries in certain sporting events and are officially "constituent countries". They share certain state functions, but are still countries.

And there actually is no flag for Great Britain as it ceased to exist from about 1801. The Union Jack represents the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). Also certain islands though part of England aren't part of the UK and vice versa. And the Welsh don't even get a reference on the Union Jack, just England, Scotland and NI. Though "GB" is used as the designated "country reference".

No wonder people can be confused.

However, as others have said, apart from some sectarianism, you would only really find mainland English citizens who would use the flag in a representative way.

And I'd also say you could limit it even further to certain regions even within England. As some would be less patriotic in their views of a national identity than others.
 
They are countries. They compete as separate countries in certain sporting events and are officially "constituent countries". They share certain state functions, but are still countries.
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They're not seperate countries in the accepted international definition of a country.

Allowing Wales and Scotland to play in world cup qualifiers would be no different to allowing Bavaria, Quebec, Texas, Canton, Brittany or even Cork field their own teams.
 

You can still be a country without being a sovereign state. It isn't as clear cut as either just borders or where you are governed from. Hence why Scotland can be a country, but still dependent on the UK parliament, Government, but the Isle of Man separate from the UK and not part of the EU, but dependent on the Crown, yet not be a country.

Faroe Islands and Greenland are Countries (again "constituent countries), but are part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

It isn't the same as a region or a state (in the USA sense).

Political reasons mean NI is referred to as a "province" rather than country.
 
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