Friday 10 th October - Union Flag or Union Jack?

 You may have noticed that there has been a rash on national flags appearing up and down the country.

Our area is mercifully free of them - there, I've nailed my colours to the mast, as it were. I love it when the flags all briefly appear everywhere on celebratory occasions; the last Queen's jubilee celebrations for example, or even as decorations at fetes and carnivals. 

But I am suspicious of the motives behind this current craze for tying them on lamp posts along the roads. I'm not sure I want that particular kind of gung-ho Britishness thrust in my face. It just doesn't seem - British - to me.

The flags were everywhere as we drove to the next town yesterday. The traffic was slow enough for me to see that a good proportion of the flags had been tied on upside-down. Now if you are going to involve our national flag in pushing your patriotism into the faces of everyone passing by, the very least you could do is ensure that put the flags up properly. 

 Do they realize that flying it upside-down is recognised as a distress signal? It's all to do with the positioning of the broader white stripe.

As for whether it is properly called the Union Jack or the Union Flag - it appears both names are correct.

Everything is explained here.