Was reading this today for entertainment. I am kind of from England but not English English and even though lot of racist worship the flag I don't think it is a racist symbol. That also in the context of supporting England world cup football team.

What say you?

P.S- From a design point of view I prefer the British flag though.

Of course not. It's popular with racists, but that doesn't make it a racist symbol.

I didn't bother clicking through to your Daily Mail link . . . wouldn't credit them with the page hits.

By the 'British' flag, you mean the Union Flag?

Its the same as the southern cross in Australia. Most bogans have one on their car and have it tattoo'd on their back like its a symbol of how other cultures and races can f**** off. Its awful and devalues an icon of the nation. But I can imagine that pretty much most countries in the world would have a similar problem with using a nations symbol in a context that it wasn't designed for

It's a lovely flag.

It is racist towards dragons.

David Cameron doesn't seem to think so http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/politics/10276037.stm

Same with the Union Flag too, seeing as it doesn't incorporate the Welsh flag.

sadly under british workplace law , i believe, ANYTHING is racist if a person percieves it to be, lodges a complaint stating why they are offended and states what should be done about it.

on the other hand , the flag is not racist, it is the intention with which it is used.
just as well really , i like all flags ....some are pretty , some quite clever designs and others just look good draped over a super yacht or two.

happy days

Step too far, although reading the article, the ban was first put into place because someone complained about an Irish flag being displayed back in 2003. Wonder what sort of character complained about that?

Yes.
I always get offended when I see the English flag.

Seing the English flag always reminds me of home as it is essentially the same as the coat of arms of the archbishop of Trier.



Archbishopric_of_Trier

I personally find people showing their support one of the cool things of football tournaments. I just gave a colleague a compliment on how good the Mexiacan kits look this year. And yes, I will for sure wear mine in the office as well.

Yawn..NO....NO...NOoooooooo

I think you slightly mis-represented the article. It doesn't seem to be suggesting that flying the St George is racist, it instead states that a certain group of government workers have been told not to put one on cars they use for work because it might upset people who do not support the England team. This seems pretty ludicrous to me, but the thing that I'm bothered by is that the title of this thread completely mis-represents the news story that it is based on.

It doesn't go far enough IMO. Government workers should not be allowed flags, toilet breaks or hot meals. As for the rest of us, no I think the SGC is a symbol of a proper nation - better than the UF: I from London don't have any stronger ties to someone from Belfast than I do to someone from Dublin.

I think the daily mail completely misrepresents the story too, they keep saying the St. Georges flag is banned, as if to imply the plucky Brits can't show their national pride for fear of offending the minorities.

Actually, all flags were banned. The reason? Some Alf Garnet chap got offended that paddy was driving around with an Irish flag.

What twoddle, the Daily Mails best function was wrapping fish and chips and wiping your arse if taken short on a picnic... then the ink was found to cause bum cancer so even that use is redundant.

I'm English and will poudly be wearing my official England shirt complete with the C o SG for the world cup. The problem is more my Scots wife who when getting a sniff of the saltire gets active with her claymore and shouts 'Freeeeedoooom' a lot... but not at this world cup

If was just meant to be a discussion starter as it reminded me of previous news items where displaying of English flag was deemed racist by some. My apology for making Daily mail look bad or fooling you and in any way

How can the traditional flag of a country with a history reaching back hundreds of years be racist?

How can any flag be racist. They're all just pieces of fabric, I don't think they have views either way. Everything is what we make them and sadly a lot of BNP types have made the SGC their own.

Having said that I don't care and if I wanted to, I'd still fly it.

Get used to it. If we don't get our money back we're going to repossess that rock you charmingly call home. You'll be seeing a lot more of the cross after that