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England Flag = racist!?!

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january_bug | 08:47 Tue 04th Oct 2005 | News
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What do users think about this story?  I know the topic's cropped up in the press before. 

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it just shows how ridiculouse.this country is getting..i am glad they have nothing better to do than investigate tie pins..these  racist things that crop up are all stupid..they are just causing problems..everyone should be treated the way they behave and conduct themselves regardless of race or religion..their are good and bad in all races...religion shouldnt even come into it as it should be personal and each to his own!!
So no longer allowed to wear the St George's Cross, or is it just prison officers at
...Wakefield prison? Does this go for St Andrew, St David, St Patrick too - but a combination of all, is that possible?
Talk about extreme - things just seem to get sillier and sillier. They'll be banning different colours next!
Incredible as it may seem I have now on my suit a St Georges Cross. It has been there for about a year. I am not making any point by wearing the pin. I got it at the Atlanta Olympics during a swap and found it recently in the back of a drawer and stuck it on my lapel. I am now going to work wearing this suit and will be meeting members of the public. And I am of Asian origin.
This'll just be some Lefty Liberal taking affence on behalf of a group that he thinks should be offended. All too common I'm afraid.
Should Anne Owers  be classed as racist for opposing the wearing of these pins. But shes probably out buying Ian Huntlely A new TV or PC 

Um, the way I read this story is that the tie-pins were only part of a larger report that highlighted other far more significant problems. There is no direct quote that St. George Cross Tie-Pins shouldn't be worn, but that unauthorised tie-pins could be a cause for concern and need to be considered by managers, most probably like all elements of an officer's uniform. I really can't see anything particularly liberal-crazy in that.

nothing inherently racist about a Mondriaan-style symphony in red and white... but if it is used as a symbol by racists, it acquires racist overtones itself. That was certainly the case in the 1970s, when racists were the only one using the flag - their view, I think, was that it contained lots of white and no black. Over the last few years it has gradually been reclaimed by ordinary, non-racist English people, particularly for use at sporting events; but I wouldn't be surprised if the flagwavers in any given prison still comprised a large number of racists.

Bear in mind that, since the official emblem of the country as a whole is the union flag (Union Jack), the status of a purely English flag remains ambiguous.

jno, ask a Welshman or a Scotsman what their National flag is. Somehow I don't think they will say the Union Jack! Why is it always the St Georges Cross that gets singled out?!

Most people I know wolud class themselves as English/Welsh/Scottish first and British second.

If you went abroad and saw somebody waving their National flag would that offend you? Didn't think so..

.... one day we English will rise again and led by St George we shall stick it up 'em ....

Bit ridiculous really, if you're English then it stands to reason that if you want to wear a badge with the St. George's Cross on it you should be allowed to do so, having said that, if you wear a uniform of any kind then I suppose it's up you're employers as to what you can pin on it, just a shame though if they ban it simply because it may cause offense to someone who is in prison!!

Agree with the point Gevs makes, I look on myself as Scottish first and British second!

It does seem from the story that they are singling out St George's tie-pins, which is ludicrous. If they were banning all tie-pins because they could be used as weapons by prisoners, that would be fair enough, but the tone of the story seems to suggest that they are only being banned because of the St George's cross.

As jno alludes to, ordinary people are trying to reclaim the flag from the racist scumbags who have hijacked it. It is therefore deeply ironic that it seems to be the PC brigade who seem hellbent on preventing people doing so. I regard my politics, such as they are, as being slightly left of centre, but I get as annoyed as any Tory by this sort of lack of common sense by the uber-liberals - not least because it gives more ammunition to those who believe that anyone who doesn't have a poster of Thatcher on their bedroom wall is a "loony lefty".
Three cheers for Dom Tuk
put it this way, if racist prisoners look on the St George cross as a symbol, and prison officers then demand the right to wear it as well, what does this say about the officers, and about the prison? Dom Tuk is welcome to wear one; he might think twice about it if - heaven forbid! - he was in jail.

well it says that the prison officers have bought that tie pin to support a cancer charity. Therefore it says that the prison employs conscientious and charitable people.

The fact that some mindless minority group within the prisoner population may hold it as some sort of symbolic reference of their racist views is completely irrelevant.

The issue here is about not wanting to cause offence and I'm sorry but if this country's national flag causes offence to a small minority of people then tough!

I'm fed up with all this rubbish about not offending people with our way of life and our traditions being brought into question in case of annoying some minority group. I'm all for a cosmopolitan society as I believe it brings a great deal of benefit to the nation as a whole but I also believe that if any of our customs, traditions, history, or symbols of national identity causes anyone to take serious offence then at the end of the day they are free to find a life elsewhere.

I still think that this story is been blown into something a lot more than it is. The report states that "Prison Service orders made clear that unauthorised badges and pins should not be worn.'' That surely means that ALL pins that aren't part of the uniform, or are otherwise authorised, are not allowed.

The rest of the report underlines race relation problems at the prison and that the pins may be misinterpreted. I guess this could be true - to me it seems a valid comment, although I can see that some people may disagree. However, I don't think the report states they should be banned. It appears to me that people who grab onto this kind of thing as evidence of the persecution of Englishness are insecure, dillusional or just want somein' else to rant about.

Garyyokel I am not insecure or dillusional and this is not just something I wanted to rant about. You said so yourself, "the pins may be misinterpreted"

How can a tie pin with a resemblence to your national flag be misinterpreted exactly? By such a statement they are backing up the stupid idea that the flag is only used by racists and therefore unneccesarily punishing us ordinary folk who may choose to wear such items in support of a very worthy cause.

Everyone has a right to fly their flag, why not. I'm Scottish and proud of the Saltire. Did you hear about the Hotel that was fined I think �2000 because someone reported them for flying the Lion rampant.  Although people fly this out of their windows all over the place, they made an example of these people. I hate all this PC nonsense. We must the only nation in the world that isn't allowed to be proud of their heritage.  No other country would accept this. When you go wherever, you have to fit in. Not here. Come over and if we offend you, sue us for millions. I'm not racist, just allow us to be us.
Good job I am not a prison officer as I have a right to wear and fly the Flag of St George. It is the Crest on my Coat of Arms being held by a Pascal Lamb.
you could argue that a swastika is an ancient Indian symbol of luck and so you have the right to march through Tel Aviv waving one; but you'd better be prepared for the possibility that others think differently. Symbols mean different things to different people, and that includes England flags.

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