Campaign to change the UK flag...

[DireStrike]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2981038.stm

...

It's become the marketing executive's remedy for any organisation's ills. From BT to BP, the Labour Party to the Lottery, hardly a business or institution has escaped the rebranding bug.

...

A campaign is being launched to modernise the red, white and blue flag by adding a touch of black to reflect multicultural Britain in the 21st Century.

...

Mr Turner, who has called his campaign Reflag, believes his plan would reclaim the union jack from its negative associations, and silence that old skinhead chant: "There ain't no black in the union jack."

"If I flew the union jack from a flagpole in my garden, many people would see it as a racist statement," he says.



To me, this is an example of when PC thinking goes overboard and sends up a lightning rod for anti-progressives to vent all their rage on.

I like this reply at the bottom of the page:

The idea is fine in principle but the design is all wrong. As far as I can see the blue and red people of this country as still massively over represented. Perhaps we could use a system of proportional representation and update the flag at each census.
Martin Steven, UK

[Sanity Claws]

1. There's no green in the flag either

even though Northern Ireland is still a part of Britain. Also, where do we see the Welsh and Scottish influence on the flag?

[muriel_volestrangler]

5. The blue is Scottish; there's no Welsh symbol there

Wales was never an independent, unified country, so it just got taken over by England; by contrast, Scotland and Ireland were separate kingdoms, and so, when they joined with England and Great Britain respectively by Acts of Union, they got their flag combined with their respective partner's. The diagonal red and white stripes represent Ireland.

[Sanity Claws]

9. Now, what Irishman thinks red and white symbolize Ireland?

I've never heard the place described as the crimson and ivory isle. Have you?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. The Cross of Saint Patrick

http://flagspot.net/flags/ie-stpat.html

[Idioteque]

2. It looks cooler with the black though...

...not saying it should be changed. Just saying it looks pretty cool.

[AwakeAtLast]

8. I agree

I almost didn't notice the change until I started reading the snip.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Since they are primitive symbols that have no real meaning in this new

smaller, electronically connected one world, how about we abolish ALL national flags.....?

[Taxloss]

4. Ah, this old chestnut. This has been around for years.

Yes, I prefer the Union Flag like that. No, it won't me changed.

Around the time of the Silver Jubilee (2002) a lot of us designed new/alternate union flags. I made one, One I think was pretty cool. But these exercises are mainy basd on awareness-raising not a real impetus for change.

[DireStrike]

6. Ah, ok.

I got the story on a non-political board, so there wasn't much context provided. I defer to your UKness in this situation. :)

[Taxloss]

7. Oh, it's no problem

Search BBC News for the designer's name, you'll see some stories. I like his flag. And he certainly meant well. And it's nice that his project has been given more attention.