James Graham (London, Quaequam!):
Originally posted on the Quaequam! blog.
The new flag for a vassal state?
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Comments
Looks like a road to nowhere to me ...
The logo looks remarkably like the version of the Union Jack that was shown behind a photo of Gordon Brown for a while on the home page of the Labour Party website. It's actually an 'unrepresentative' (symbolically so?) version of the Union flag, in that the lines representing the various national crosses are out of kilter. In particular, you have the impression that the blue band represents the line of a diagonal cross inside a white diagonal cross; i.e. it's in the position that is taken by the Cross of St. Patrick in the actual flag. If the red line at the top is taken as figuring the latter cross, then the flag appears to be being flown the wrong way round: the traditional distress signal or sign that the enemy has taken possession of a British army position!
The logo therefore makes the Scottish contribution to the Union disproportionately large and central while symbolising in general that the Union is out of kilter and under distress. The blue band for Scotland, it suggests, is the road ahead: indicating a will to keep Scotland very much at the heart of the Union; but suggesting also to English minds that whatever road the Union takes will be very much informed by the Scottish 'sovereign' interest.
David aka Britologywatch
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