Upside-Down Union Jacks

[RAYC]

An interesting variant on "getting it wrong" on Remembrance Sunday by Manchester Central Library



link to story

[jdaw1]

Despite being a shambles, it can be construed as being the correct way up.

[DRT]

Despite being a shambles, it can be construed as being the correct way up.

My 1 second reaction was "thick white on top, nothing wrong". I then looked closer.

[jdaw1]

Not the sharpest knives in the drawer.

[djewesbury]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet:

BBC house style on union jack
Union jack, lower case, is the term we use for the UK flag formed by combining the crosses of St George, St Andrew and St Patrick. (The proper term, "union flag", carries potential for confusion - especially in the context of EU stories). However, where there are local political sensitivities, as in Northern Ireland, union flag is acceptable.

[jdaw1]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet

Indeed, what a childish dog’s breakfast.

[djewesbury]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet

Indeed, what a childish dog’s breakfast.

And some of them appear to have been adults!

[PhilW]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet

Indeed, what a childish dog’s breakfast.

And some of them appear to have been adults!

Careful - you'll have the artists' guild round with the hammers. Next thing you know, you'll be making derogatory comments about the installation I saw in a modern art museum in Cologne recently comprising a wire stretched half-way across the room - "initially mistakable for a barrier preventing the viewer from reaching an item which has been temporarily removed, the participant then begins to consider the concept of the inaccessible space" - or some-such on the adjoining notice...

[djewesbury]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet

Indeed, what a childish dog’s breakfast.

And some of them appear to have been adults!

Careful - you'll have the artists' guild round with the hammers. Next thing you know, you'll be making derogatory comments about the installation I saw in a modern art museum in Cologne recently comprising a wire stretched half-way across the room - "initially mistakable for a barrier preventing the viewer from reaching an item which has been temporarily removed, the participant then begins to consider the concept of the inaccessible space" - or some-such on the adjoining notice...

There are pretentious artists, and then there strange frustrated people who shouldn't be allowed access to photoshop. The first group makes me mad, the second brings a strange delight.
Only one lot are coining it in though.

[RAYC]

This strange article includes the following interesting snippet

Indeed, what a childish dog’s breakfast.

well the iron bru one made me laugh!

[SCP-DFF]

Messed up Union Jack. On sale at http://www.achica.com/product/1359240/p ... ack-mirror

£29

[DRT]

I think my father-in-law's festive slippers have a problem!

[LGTrotter]

A problem? There are many, many layers of problem.

[DRT]

A problem? There are many, many layers of problem.

Agreed, but only one pertinent to this thread. I am trying to ignore the others.

[jdaw1]

All tickets for seats on buses leaving the Bulgarian capital of Sofia until January 9 have been snapped up

Not upside down, but it seems that the Bulgarians are mangling this country even before arriving.

[djewesbury]

Hmm. Page 22 of today's Guardian.

Aside from the obvious problems with the union jacks (plural as they do not connect into a single flag), there is also a worrying discontinuity in the northwest of the Irish Republic, where Donegal and Sligo appear to have become discontiguous (or rather, connected only by a single line).
(I'll let someone else post Melissa Kite's incoherent article about alcohol and health that is alongside it.)

[DRT]

It is also interesting that Dumfries and Galloway now appears to be in England

[Alex Bridgeman]

It is also interesting that Dumfries and Galloway now appears to be in England

And Ulster in Scotland. Is this a predictive map of the British Isles post referendum?

[RAYC]

I don't think i'd realised before that the northernmost point in Ireland (the island) was in Ireland (the country) rather than Northern Ireland. So the map was not without merit for my education!

[djewesbury]

I don't think i'd realised before that the northernmost point in Ireland (the island) was in Ireland (the country) rather than Northern Ireland. So the map was not without merit for my education!

The very beautiful Inishowen peninsula. And if the Foyle (river and lough) is the boundary between North and South / Co. Derry and Co. Donegal, then Derry city is on the 'wrong' side of the river.

[jdaw1]

[DRT]

27 minutes into the first episode of Britain's Great War!

Britain's Great War.jpg (38.78 KiB) Viewed 39474 times

[Glenn E.]

27 minutes into the first episode of Britain's Great War!

Britain's Great War.jpg

That almost looks deliberate, since they alternate.

[jdaw1]

Seen on 9^th May 2014:


The driver wanted to be told why I was photographing his vehicle. After explanation, he shared my disappointment.

But the other side of the lorry was correct.


Other images are at njbrecycling.co.uk.

[flash_uk]

I suspect Julian has critiqued more Union Jack hoists than I have, but what is it that is wrong with the top one? If one assumes that it is hoisted on the right (where the vertical exhaust pipe could be construed as a flagpole), then isn't it OK?

[jdaw1]

I suspect Julian has critiqued more Union Jack hoists than I have, but what is it that is wrong with the top one? If one assumes that it is hoisted on the right (where the vertical exhaust pipe could be construed as a flagpole), then isn't it OK?

So it is trailing ahead of the pole as the lorry drives forward? I suppose it works if we pretend that the lorry is reversing very very fast.

That’s a no.

[flash_uk]

I suspect Julian has critiqued more Union Jack hoists than I have, but what is it that is wrong with the top one? If one assumes that it is hoisted on the right (where the vertical exhaust pipe could be construed as a flagpole), then isn't it OK?

So it is trailing ahead of the pole as the lorry drives forward? I suppose it works if we pretend that the lorry is reversing very very fast.

That’s a no.

Well in that case the other side is wrong.

[Glenn E.]

Viewed from the driver's side of the lorry, with the flag pole in "front" of the lorry, is it not correct? In which case what you're looking at is a common usage. In fact the United States Army does the same with the US flag.

When you look at the lorry from the lorry's left side, you're looking at the back of the flag.

[flash_uk]

It all depends on where you consider the "flagpole" to be. If it is at the front of the cab, then both sides are wrong. If at the back then both sides are correct.

[PopulusTremula]

Would the issue go away if Scotland were to secede from the Union, i.e. would the flag become fool proof? If so, we may just have stumbled on the only instantly verifiable argument in favour of secession.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

[jdaw1]

If at the back then both sides are correct.

If at the back, the flag would flutter backwards, away from the cab.

[Glenn E.]

It all depends on where you consider the "flagpole" to be. If it is at the front of the cab, then both sides are wrong. If at the back then both sides are correct.

Oh right, yes. It took me a second to figure out why, but once I pictured it as a US flag it was blatantly obvious. It isn't just the flow of the flag that matters, but also which side the (implied) flagpole is on.

You'd never put the flagpole on the stripes side of the US flag - it belongs next to the stars. Same problem here.

My guess is that someone out-clevered themselves with the design.

[flash_uk]

If at the back then both sides are correct.

If at the back, the flag would flutter backwards, away from the cab.

Depends which way the truck is moving. But assuming your proposition that the truck is moving forward and thus the flags are hung from the front of the cab, then both pictures show a flag hung incorrectly. The top picture cannot be "wrong" and the bottom picture be "right".

[DRT]

Our brave heroes should perhaps know better...

2014-06-28 09.03.57.jpg (46.59 KiB) Viewed 38311 times

[jdaw1]

[jdaw1]

The Lambeth Country Show, in Brockwell Park, on Sunday 20^th July 2014.

Good pork, bad buns, worse sign-making.


One might also ask about the presence, in the country that did more than any other to abolish slavery, of the flag of the Confederate States of America. And why the Union jack and the Scottish Saltire, but no Saint George?

[mpij]

Would the issue go away if Scotland were to secede from the Union, i.e. would the flag become fool proof? If so, we may just have stumbled on the only instantly verifiable argument in favour of secession.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

It would, however, ruin this thread.

[PopulusTremula]

Would the issue go away if Scotland were to secede from the Union, i.e. would the flag become fool proof? If so, we may just have stumbled on the only instantly verifiable argument in favour of secession.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

It would, however, ruin this thread.

I'm sure other bugbears could be found to bring excitement into our lives...

[DRT]

Would the issue go away if Scotland were to secede from the Union, i.e. would the flag become fool proof? If so, we may just have stumbled on the only instantly verifiable argument in favour of secession.

It would, however, ruin this thread.

Indeed. But I think it is now a very real danger. I had dinner this evening with a fellow Scot who has been fiercely in the "No" camp until now. He, who unlike me has a vote, has now switched to "Yes" on the grounds that no one bothered to make a decent argument for "No". He will not be alone.

More worryingly, I watched the opening ceremony of the Empire Games this evening having had absolutely no previous interest in the event. I found myself smiling in a warm and fuzzy kind of way when the Scottish team emerged and also when the masses in Cetic Park (otherwise known as Paradise) wailed away about the bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lommond to the accompaniment of that cute violinist in the blue dress. I, an absolutely "No" man, felt a stirring of nationalism in the depths of my gut for a few moments that many others would have felt. I recognised the danger, but will everyone else? Is this event perilously close to an important vote and capable of influencing the decision? Time will tell.

I still say "No".

[djewesbury]

Christ Derek, calm down man. These games were always going to stir up a bit of Hoots Mon. But people are not idiots. They do understand that bread and circuses will not pay their mortgage. Let's stay calm.

No. It has to be no.

[djewesbury]

In the years when I used to go to the Lambeth County [sic] Show, the event was attended by black and white alike. I am surprised that nobody made a complaint about that confederate flag.

[DRT]

Christ Derek

It has been said before. My mother's neighbour was convinced I had a leaning to the Priesthood.

But I am now seriously worried that this could all go horribly wrong.

[djewesbury]

Christ Derek

It has been said before. My mother's neighbour was convinced I had a leaning to the Priesthood.

But I am now seriously worried that this could all go horribly wrong.

No.
Say it. No.
Say it to everyone you meet who lives in Scotland. No.
No.

JDAW's excellent article on Scotland after the Pound has been doing the rounds of everyone I know.

Why, in seeking a new constitutional arrangement, did New Labour make such a pig's ear of it and not go for all-out federalism of the type that's so successful here in Germany? This seems to be the only answer now after the referendum, whatever the result. Anything else produces yet more confusion, dissatisfaction and inequality.

A little note: Northern Ireland currently costs the British (as in, English, Welsh and Scottish) taxpayer £16bn a year. Subtract Scotland from that, get rid of the Barnett formula, and what's the future for the North? Nobody seems to have told us; and the 'politicians' are still doing colouring-in, so they can't be expected to know.

[DRT]

JDAW's excellent article on Scotland after the Pound has been doing the rounds of everyone I know.

OK, so you, me, Owen and AHB have read JDAW's article. Something to bear in mind is that more than 50% of Scottish voters are either in the public sector or old. That doesn't represent good odds for rational thought. {controversial card played}

[djewesbury]

In that case, they should definitely, unquestionably vote no, and forestall Salmond's race to the bottom (with concrete boots, and their pensions in his pockets).

[DRT]

In that case, they should definitely, unquestionably vote no, and forestall Salmond's race to the bottom (with concrete boots, and their pensions in his pockets).

+1

+1

+1

+1

[djewesbury]

In that case, they should definitely, unquestionably vote no, and forestall Salmond's race to the bottom (with concrete boots, and their pensions in his pockets).

+1

+1

+1

+1

Wow, maybe it's because I've been sitting at my computer all day, and I'm sitting here listening to Gene Clark, but that's like, really trippy man…
Total mise-en-abîme, baby..

[LGTrotter]

This Scottish thing will be close. And when things get close...

I think that Derek's panic may not be unfounded.

[DRT]

In case it isn't clear, I hate Alex Salamander in the same way as the mythical version of William Wallace hated Edward Longshanks. Hate is a strong word, and one that my mother told me I should never use against anything or anyone apart from 'long-tails" (rats). Salamungo is the worst of the worst of the worst. Worse than a long-tail.

Are we off topic yet?

[djewesbury]

In case it isn't clear, I hate Alex Salamander in the same way as the mythical version of William Wallace hated Edward Longshanks. Hate is a strong word, and one that my mother told me I should never use against anything or anyone apart from 'long-tails" (rats). Salamungo is the worst of the worst of the worst. Worse than a long-tail.

Are we off topic yet?

No.