If the latest press reports from the UK are correct it appears that the Labour MP for Barking is very concerned about the BNP doing rather well in the upcoming local elections.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...137856,00.html

Dont get me going, Maybe its me?.....But when I was young I dont think I recall seeing the Flag of St George in common usage.
When the NF started becoming higher profile via their manipulation of disaffected youth at football and music venues the Flag of St George was "hijacked".
Skins wearing the badge of the flag was at first quite underground code of their racist views. Eventually it was common knowledge and became a symbol for this ideology and was flaunted more overtly.
I dont know if you are denying the flag is represented by some in this way?
Along with the symbols you mentioned, which are not National flags, the Flag of St George is right up there in its use by the far right across the globe.

Well the not used much 1000 year old flag has been associated with many evils and hated by many and unless, as already mentioned, some marketing department tries to install a new one, it will be around for many many more centuries.
If this article is anything to go by Non-English people will always hate the symbol fro some reason.

""A lot of Muslims and Arabs view the Crusades as a bloody episode in our history," he told CNN. "They see those campaigns as Christendom launching a brutal holy war against Islam." http://edition.CNN.com/2005/WORLD/eu...tain.redcross/

The pin was a cancer fund raiser.

Enjoy you life Hudman and keep your biased attitudes and hope you enjoy the young canada flag. That is as long as your not of french origin as you'll probably see it as an oppressive symbol of french values in Quebec.

I could site millions of reason to hate everything about every other culture, country, symbol, skin colour but I find it best not to Hate a Person due to preconceived ideology.

So excuse me if continue to fly the flag of my origin regardless of an subversive elements. As I'm proud to be an Englishman today.

You mean other than flying from every Anglican church.

I dont know about being biased, if you mean I dont need to flag wave or keep reaffirming my nationality then ok I am biased.
The CNN link only points out what in my illiterate way I was trying to say about 15 posts ago.
I admire your loyalty to the cause, but if Englishness and being proud are high up on your list of values, why leave the country?
I dont have a drop of English blood in me, but was born in UK and have loyalty to England, I am aware through my former work of England's colonial past and the way our history has impacted across the globe, but thats as far as it goes.
As for the other posters Anglican references I never paid much attention to what was flying above those places.
I guess the Canadians got rid of the Ensign for its historical baggage and the need to break from the crown, which I am sure the province of Quebec did not loose much sleep over.
I should imagine the new Canadian flags innocuous logo was designed not to offend anyone.

Yes I agree racists hijacked the cross of St George, they also hijacked the skinhead look. By no means were\are all skinheads racists. By no means are all racists skinhead or indeed white.

The whole argument is possible mute anyway since St George probably wasn't even English so what damn difference does it make when the English hijacked his flag and anglicised the poor bloke

Canada is still a constitutional monarchy, although it's been a Canadian crown since the 1920s.

The Canadian flag was not universally popular at the time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flag_Debate

There was debate in Australia in the 1990s over changing the flag. In response to that the government passed legislation in 1998 to protect the Australian flag and ensure it can only be changed by a national referendum - rather than have change imposed by politicians.

Mate, please tell me you're on a wind up?

Nobody has convinced me that the flag does not have some unfortunate baggage attached. I am not arguing about the rights and wrongs of it, just that it is so.
Its a shame for England, but anybody denying that its use by the far right has not left a bad taste around it, is in cloud cuckoo land.
As for the Maple Leaf I cant believe any of the arguments would stem from its symbolism as a national logo or having any usage that may offend (apart from die hard monarchists)
FFS this has gone on for 3-4 pages and 2 days, and people are still subjectively trying to tell me there is no way people could perceive the damn thing as having been tainted for a generation by the far right.

Is a patch and a quasi insult your best offering?
Goodnight!

Sorry I didn't realise this was some sort of competition!
I find your comments incredibly insulting.
I'm living in Canada and embarrassing the Canadian culture and way of life which I love. But I'm English, always will be and always will be proud to be. You're basically saying that because I've emigrated, I shouldn't be proud to be English?? WTF! The whole bollox that I should somehow be embarrassed about my country and flag really grinds me and people like you who like to put it down is one thing I won't miss about the place.
I was trying to think of a comparison about your comments. I've got a couple of Aussie mates back in Bristol who are proud Australians. I would never dream of saying to them "If you're that proud of the place why did you leave?".
You're making yourself look like an arse mate with all your generalisations.
Goodnight.

Canadian culture doesn't embarass easily.

Where ? Certainly not here, in Canada.

That's because there's no Canadian culture, but that's neither here not there.

Overt symbols or national origin are horribly un-English, flag waving is something one might expect of Americans or continentals and waving the flag of a country where one does not even live is the height of vulgarity; something like plastic paddyism.

There's more to this though, flying a union flag would be tacky, but adopting a symbol of the far right and asserting that it's an innocent symbol of one's country is, at best, disingenuous. At worst it attracts the likes of CitySlicker.

Oops