...a tape of a Scotland/England karate match at the weekend. The Scots were waving the Saltire and the Lion Rampant while the English were waving St George's cross (Fair enough) and Union Flags. Why? Don't they realise this is for the other countries of the UK too?
Genuine question. No rants please. (Tho' I must admmit I'd be the first to rant at a question like this!)
2006-09-12 02:14:53 · 20 answers · asked by Patchouli Pammy 7 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Other - Entertainment
OK, can't resist. They were English, supporting England.
I'm a Scot and find it very ignorant and irritating
And England is NOT the "superior" country in any way
2006-09-12 02:38:18 · update #1
AND I've never eaten a deep-fried Mars bar in my puff
2006-09-12 08:20:04 · update #2
Yeah, being Scottish I find this truly irritating. It goes hand in hand with the English using 'God Save the queen' as the English anthem when it is in fact the anthem of GB.
2006-09-12 02:25:02 · answer #1 · answered by tmctagga 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The origins of the Union Jack are probably unknown to those that wave it at sporting events or any event for that matter. The Jack part of Union Jack refers to the father of the Children of Israel, Jacob, and the Union refers to the union of his 12 sons who were the 12 tribes of the Children of Israel. The nation of the UK are British Israelites. Originally the flag was the Red Cross (the English flag) which was the Hebrew symbol. Added to it later was the Scottish diagonal cross and also added was the reference to Patrick the Irish connection before he became Saint Patrick. Wales does not have a direct reference in the Union Jack as Wales was already amalgamated with England. English laws and regulations in the past when the Union Jack was first designed were equally applicable to Wales. The only Saint of the home countries that actually set foot in native soil was Saint Patrick the patron saint of Ireland. The Scottish patron Saint was Andrew, one of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus. The English Saint, George famous for fighting the dragon never set foot on English soil.
It is probably the signing of the National Anthem that causes most people to connect England team supporters flying their Union Jack instead of the English flag. However in the last decade there appears to be more English flags waved by supporters than Union Jacks.
The UK consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. GB consists of England Scotland and Wales. British teams often appear in sporting events such as the Olympics as Great Britain which is incorrect because it excludes Northern Ireland.
2006-09-12 09:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You know to be honest I think it's a little bit of ignorance, teamed together with the fact that the Union Flag was created to represent all the countries of the United Kingdom.
Therefore it doesn't really matter - I mean the scots are incredibly proud and naturally would use their flag, which you can't blame them for, and personally I would use the St. George's cross.
Maybe they were people that couldn't decide which team to support so by using that were covering both bases?
However, to top it all off - the Union Flag is theirs, and everybody elses that lives in the UK.
It's a strange world!
2006-09-12 09:26:52 · answer #3 · answered by Bavaro_Runner 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Does it really matter ? The Scots fly there Lion Rampant, The Welsh fly there Dragon and we English fly the St Georges Cross. The Union flag covers the United Kingdom and if you read some of the replies to the original question we don't seem to be very united.
By the way.......... its not the Union Jack............... Its the Union Flag and it flys from the Jack.
2006-09-12 16:56:34 · answer #4 · answered by diane r 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The english tend to think that they are THE british and that scotland, N. ireland and wales are on the side lines and so the union flag belongs to them. The scots, welsh and irish are proud of where they come from and wouldn't be seen dead waving a union flag. Of course I'm generalizing here!
Anyone daft enough to wave a flag wants certifying anyways!
2006-09-12 09:23:40 · answer #5 · answered by scribbler767 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A lot of people seem genuinely confused about the differences between England, Britain, Great Britain, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. They tend to equate Britain with England, which of course is folly without warrant! I once saw a web blog in which a ranting English man had to be corrected by an American - how embarrassing is that!
2006-09-12 09:23:05 · answer #6 · answered by Avondrow 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Maybe they just like to support all the countries of the UK.
Or they simply don't have the St. George cross and found a union flag in the cupboard under the stairs.
What does it mean when people wave their hats in support?
2006-09-12 09:23:49 · answer #7 · answered by Gary 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I saw a bit of the famous 1966 world cup final where England won, in the crowd I saw nothing but Union Jack waving everywhere. It is only recently (last 20 years) that we have reverted to using the seperate flags, since the union lost it's appeal to so many people.
2006-09-12 09:19:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe those particular fans only owned a Union flag and wanted to bring a flag along to the match. True, they were sort of cheering for both sides by doing it, but maybe they just didn't own a St. George's Cross.
People sitting next to them must have pointed it out to them and they probably felt stupid when they realised their mistake. I sure would have asked them which side they were meant to be cheering for!
2006-09-12 09:36:55 · answer #9 · answered by Iknowsomestuff 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Englands flag is the st georges cross....
Scotlands is the saltire x thingy..
Wales is the Dragon flag....
Us English prefer to wave the St George cross.. as the scots and welsh dislike us and vice-versa (sweeping statement, lol)
so we are trying to separate ourselves from them....
As England is the Superior country anyway.... lol!!
i Prefer the Isle of wights flag.. very pretty....
2006-09-12 09:25:35 · answer #10 · answered by paulrb8 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think it is ignorance. They don't actually know! I can sort of forgive it if England is the only representative from the UK in a particular tournament, but if it's a Scotland/England match, they are basically cheering on both sides!
2006-09-12 09:23:51 · answer #11 · answered by helen g 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋