Empire: An Argument in Favour of a 'European Superstate'

[belfastuniguy]

Union Flag

Indeed, I can understand an American's ignorance, but from someone living here is a disgrace.

[jmancuso]

isn't union flag also accurate? I though union Jack was originally meant for uk flag at sea.

[Manchester Planner]

It is the Union Flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

[belfastuniguy]

Originally Posted by jmancuso

isn't union flag also accurate? I though union Jack was originally meant for uk flag at sea.

The Union Jack has been used here to describe the flag of the United Kingdom, which is not accurate. It's the Union Flag, you ONLY call it the Union Jack when it is flown at sea.

People have been becoming increasingly lax in such understanding in recent years.

[Smarty]

Originally Posted by Lostboy

No it was the Union Flag that was far more often used as a symbol of racism and hate, especially in the 70s but let us not let facts get in the way of a nice story.

It was actually both the union flag and the flag of St George that were used by the NF.

In recent years, the flag of England had come to be associated with far-right political groups such as the British National Party and the National Front. Although adoption of the flag by sports supporters and other groups has gone some way to reclaim the flag from the far right, displaying the flag remains controversial in some cases.[7]

Many black people living in England have stated that they still view the flag with suspicion: during a poll of readers of New Nation, "most black people interviewed said they felt alienated by the flag of St George and still associated it with the BNP".[7] Despite this, some young, non-white people have been reported displaying the flags in support of the football team.[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_England#Far_Right

[Smarty]

Originally Posted by belfastuniguy

Indeed, I can understand an American's ignorance, but from someone living here is a disgrace.

Union Jack is perfectly acceptable terminology for the union flag. In everyday use the two are used interchangeably

From theabove Wiki page

Even if the term "Union Jack" does derive from the jack flag (as perhaps seems most likely), after three centuries, it is now sanctioned by use, has appeared in official use, and remains the popular term

Hardly a disgrace to use the term

[Smarty]

Originally Posted by belfastuniguy

The Union Jack has been used here to describe the flag of the United Kingdom, which is not accurate. It's the Union Flag, you ONLY call it the Union Jack when it is flown at sea.

People have been becoming increasingly lax in such understanding in recent years.

How recent exactly ?

Whether to use "Union Flag" or "Union Jack" is a matter of debate.

The Flag Institute, the vexillological organisation for the United Kingdom, stated that the term Union Flag is a "relatively recent idea". Jack was a word previously used to denote any flag.[4] It also noted that "From early in its life the Admiralty itself frequently referred to the flag as the Union Jack, whatever its use, and in 1902 an Admiralty Circular announced that Their Lordships had decided that either name could be used officially. Such use was given Parliamentary approval in 1908 when it was stated that "the Union Jack should be regarded as the National flag".[

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Flag

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by Lostboy

No it was the Union Flag that was far more often used as a symbol of racism and hate, especially in the 70s but let us not let facts get in the way of a nice story.

Actually, Lostboy's right here. The England flag only got associated with racism in the nineties, when people started using it more. Admittedly, a knobhead contingent of England football hooligans smashing up parts of continental Europe went some way to causing this, but a lot of it was political smearing, with the establishment not wanting the emergence of an English identy independent of the British one, teaming up with the political correctness freaks who cited that it was offensive to ethnic minorities.

National Front types have always used the Union Flag primarily. Yes, I'm sure the England flag gets used to, but so do the national flags of the rest of the UK, when these unsavoury sorts are active in those parts.