In Yorkshire

[cheekbones3]

Being in England at the moment, it feels like someone's won a war lately, what with all the flags on the cars. Vaguely ironic. Seems to be a phenomenon that started with Euro'96, and has carried on ever since, hand-in-hand with the huge amount of hype that major football tournaments get these days. It all leads me to ask the following questions:

1) Why do people feel the need to show how patriotic they are when they're still in their own country? I could understand a litt le flag-waving and national pride if you were abroad, but I can't see much in the way of purpose of doing it at home.

2) If you are going to have your car/house/head festooned with flags, why not have a proper national flag instead of one with "England" written on it! Surely writing the name of the country on the rag removes the purpose of the colour and design? You may as well have the name written clearly in black and white on a piece of paper.

Bowels almost fine again. My regards to Edinburgh, and other nice places.

Comments

[littlemsmortis.livejournal.com]

I'm glad it's Wales and not Englandshire I'm moving to in July!

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

Aye, whole different set of issues in Wales. Hope they don't do the whole "speaking in Welsh around the outsider" thing! Good luck with it all by the way.

[littlemsmortis.livejournal.com]

They won't, they don't do that kind of thing where I'm going ;)

[silverstorms.livejournal.com]

Those damn flags on every bloody car
Urg,

[bunnyphone.livejournal.com]

Glad you're feeling mostly better :o)

[chuma.livejournal.com]

I can think of worse things than uniting behind a football team. I remember when having a british flag in your car associated you with far right political parties :/

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

Aye, it could be worse certainly.

[cr4k.livejournal.com]

Hey I've seen it on someone's car in Edinburgh, that's doing it in a different country! (Brave man) I think it's part of the quasi religious effect that football has on people, with 'supporting' being equivalent to prayer and buying a season ticket for your local team being equivalent to 'sacrifice'.

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

Aye it's certainly the closest thing a lot of people have to religion now. Almost as tedious in many ways too!

[xquiq.livejournal.com]

I was wondering exactly what the point of the flags was when I was in Halifax last week. The world cup hasn't even started yet!

I will be trying to avoid West Yorkshire when it does start, that's for sure.

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

There's not going to be much escape I promise you...not even here.

[goneril.livejournal.com]

But surely it's not really about patriotism. It's about supporting a football team. You may as well be asking why people wear their team's shirt or paint their faces in their team's colours at the matches. It's about being involved as an active supporter, even if you're just sitting with your beer in front of the telly or driving around. People are pack animals, football supporters definately so.

But why can you only be proud of your country when you're abroad? I think flag waving in general is tacky and I wish the whole flag thing would stop, but I find it more offensive abroad, where it has a definate air of 'we're better than you', than at home. At home it's a celebration, abroad it's a challenge. Example: scottish and welsh flags on bumper stickers.

The ones with 'England' on them are widely available and cheap. People who have them generally get them from ASDA or Poundland for £1 and the finer points of iconism are likely lost on them, or they probably don't care.

Glad the bum's clearing up. XP

[cheekbones3.livejournal.com]

I only equate it to patritoism because it's the national team. I suppose people need to prove they're part of the gang or whatever.

As for abroad, it can be bad, but I think it can be okay too if it's done just as part of someone's identity, as opposed to how a football fan might go about it.