• tetris11@feddit.uk
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    16 days ago

    It’s a flag usually assosciated with racist nutjobs. Doesnt have to be, granted, but the usual way of showing national pride and unity is to use the Union Jack.

    Replacing the Jack with the England flag telegraphs that unity is not the goal.

    Why do Wales and Scotland get to fly their flags then? Because these were countries that England oppressed and occupied. The use of their national flags do of course have racist undertones (usually aimed at the english), but it’s a way of preserving their heritage under a foreign occupier and so we grant them this clemency.

    England flying their flag for the same reason does not hold the same merit, unless we’re literally expressing our heritage that was taken away from us… by us. We were a worldwide occupying force for a long time. Maybe we should calm down on the pride, and instead fly the Jack that promotes more unity

    • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
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      16 days ago

      Scotland’s not fucking oppressed and occupied. Their nobility bankrupted themselves investing in the doomed Darien project, so they formed the union with England and then went out again doing colonialism properly under the banner of the East India Company and British Empire. They just hate it now because the Empire money is gone and Westminster and London has all the power, which is just the same boat everyone else is in.

    • Flax@feddit.uk
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      16 days ago

      Because these were countries that England oppressed and occupied.

      LOL no. The act of Union between England and Scotland was very much consensual and the English didn’t oppress the Scottish.

      Wales was not a country until recent times. It was only internationally defined as such in 2011. It was always a principality of England.

      It’s a flag usually assosciated with racist nutjobs. Doesnt have to be, granted, but the usual way of showing national pride and unity is to use the Union Jack.

      Then take it back. Fly it at pride parades, palestine rallies, other protests. It’s everyone’s flag.

      Maybe we should calm down on the pride, and instead fly the Jack that promotes more unity

      I think people generally fly both. Although I’m not living in England. But when I visited England, I rarely saw St George’s cross by itself. I don’t think at all, except on a Church of England church (Anglican churches in the UK tend to fly their saints flags anyway, like the Church of Ireland typically flies St Patrick’s Saltire or the Union Jack)

      • tetris11@feddit.uk
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        16 days ago

        LOL no. The act of Union between England and Scotland was very much consensual and the English didn’t oppress the Scottish.

        The wars of scottish independence are pretty entrenched in cultural psyche, and Thatcher reignited tensions drastically in the 80s.

        Wales was not a country until recent times. It was only internationally defined as such in 2011. It was always a principality of England.

        They were not allowed to express their culture until the monarchy showed support, of course there’s resentment

        • Flax@feddit.uk
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          16 days ago

          The wars for Scottish independence were centuries before the act of union