Proud of your Flag?

[Fozzie Bear]

Yes, Ireland has had its up and downs in recent years. Had to be bailed out By the IMF and was bouncing back but now COVID-19 has hit. The two Islands have so much in common and share so much, people and goods move freely. Alas not sure how Brexit may impact that!

 

[Steve]

You can't go down any street in America without seeing Old Glory flying from at least one house. Should you be going down Malmesbury Road, in Ringwood England, you'll see this at No. 28 Saturday.

 

[pjgh]

Oddly, although the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Team GB (in sports) often includes Northern Ireland who are not in Great Britain. Go figure.

 

[UKRob]

Yes Cristobal that is correct and a wonderful thing, it occurs in Rugby only. In football/soccer there are two national teams of Northern Ireland And Rep. of Ireland.

I suspect that your phrasing is wrong as there are several other sports, apart from Rugby, where the island of Ireland Is represented.

 

[R181]

Gotta love Venn diagrams for sorting things out.

Bob

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I suspect that your phrasing is wrong as there are several other sports, apart from Rugby, where the island of Ireland Is represented.

I stand corrected!, Rubgy is the most well known but Boxing, Basketball and Cricket among a few others are represented on a “All Ireland” basis.

 

[Wayne]

I would happily both fly my flags with immense pride, The flag of St George and The Union Flag and die for them if I was called upon to serve my country.

 

[Wayne]

Absolutely!

How can a man not stand with his country and countrymen under the flag of their sovereign nation?

Well said that man.

 

[Wayne]

You can't go down any street in America without seeing Old Glory flying from at least one house. Should you be going down Malmesbury Road, in Ringwood England, you'll see this at No. 28 Saturday.

View attachment 71892

Oh yeah it's Star Wars day innit, the day you all eat Turkey.

 

[TobyC]

Esthetically, in regard to flags, my personal preferences go to South East Asian countries.

Flag of the former Kingdom of Laos:

View attachment 71855

Is that the three elephants that carry the earth on their backs?

 

[Paper Plane]

An interesting discussion.

A flag is only a design on a piece of material when you get down to it. It's potency only comes from what is given to it.

I'm quite ambivalent to "my" flags, Union and Cross Of St George, due to their unfortunate association with boneheaded right wing morons. Mind you, I'm ambivalent about nationalism and patriotism too. i wouldn't die for a flag, any flag, only for a cause in which I believed. Nor would I get upset about anyone burning it.

There's no way I would fly any British or English flags on my house or use the design to adorn my clothing. If there was to be a flag outside it would be the Yorkshire one, I'm a proud immigrant Yorkshireman, or a Scottish one. Mrs Plane is a fervent Scot...

A couple of generations back on my Mother's side are of German origin and I do take an element of pride in that. It gives me another national football team to support in the Euros and World Cup too. Their flag is a nice design.

steve

 

[Paper Plane]

Is that the three elephants that carry the earth on their backs?

No, there's four and they are standing on the back of a giant turtle...

steve

 

[Cristobal]

Is that the three elephants that carry the earth on their backs?

No idea, I googled it:

What does each symbol represent?

The five-level pedestal represented the law on which the country rested.

The three headed-elephant represented three former kingdoms Vientiane, Luang Prabang, and Champasak which made up the country.

The nine-folded umbrella on top of the elephant is said to be a royal symbol, originating from Mt. Meru in the Buddhist cosmology.

 

[TobyC]

It is very confusing !

England is a country within the United Kingdom (The largest one)
The United Kingdom Consists of Scotland , Wales , England and Northern Ireland (which is an area of 6 counties that was retained by the UK when the rest of Ireland achieved independence)
Just to complete that picture Great Britain is Scotland , Wales and England.
Ireland or the Republic of Ireland is the main land mass of Ireland (26 Counties) and is an entirely independent country.

Thats where I live, but I only moved here recently I lived in England before that , and I was born in England.

So, you are a citizen of England, but not of the Republic of Ireland, unless you do whatever you do to become a citizen of The Republic of Ireland?

 

[Burgundy]

When I was 20, I lived with and loved a Slovenian woman and we rented an apartment in Belgium. Our closest friends were two Scots, a Spaniard and two Canadians. To begin with, our mutual language was French with English and German filling the gaps. After a year, I came back to England to train as a teacher and she returned to Ljubljana and became a journalist. I count that as a formative experience in terms of my identity, my worldview, and therefore my politics.