Red Ensign

[Alex_Blackwood]

What does the forum think of the latest EU proposal to deface the Red Ensign with an EU flag! One MEP thinks it no different from putting the EU stars on the car number plate!

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[petery]

Microsoft Word gives the following modern synonyms for 'deface'

spoil, ruin. mar, disfigure, mutilate, despoil, vandalise

'nuf said

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[Little_Russel]

I think they know where they can stick that proposal. I'm going to fly the Cross of St George at the stern this season.

<hr width=100% size=1>Sail the Se7en seas...

 

[AndrewB]

Oh no! The Ensign Fascists are here again!

Who cares? An ensign is nothing more than a means for customs officials to identify and categorise us. Personally I wouldn't bother with one otherwise, it flaps around the pushpit, gets caught in the wind generator, and doesn't even make the boat go faster.

Roll on the day a GB sticker becomes the official means of identification, as with cars. Do you get uptight about the stars that now appear on many stickers?

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[petery]

New ensigns every few years?

... and the red ensign does the 'categorisation' job well enough. Will we have to buy new ensigns every time more countries join the EU?

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[AndrewB]

Sure, just like replica footy strips.

So you have to keep up. Your kid in year 7 will tell you, all your mates will take the piss if you show up wearing last year's, now remaindered in BHS.

 

[Stardust]

Re: Oh no! The Ensign Fascists are here again!

Well we all have a view but I certainly do not share yours. I happen to revere my red ensign because I know and care that my freedom and prosperity are in no small way due to the countless good men (and women) of many nationalities who died during both World Wars on ships flying the red duster. So I fly mine with pride and will continue to do so.
John Hyatt.

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[snowleopard]

Re: New ensigns every few years?

no, they plan to stick with 12 stars.

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[Twister_Ken]

Haruumph.

Red Duster, proud symbol of Britain's merchant fleets, heroic seamen, torpedoed men in lifeboats, etc.

No, I won't give it up for the daisy chain.

Just where is Benelux, anyway?

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[tcm]

Re: Oh no! The Ensign Fascists are here again!

Well, i would be quite happy with no ensign at all, but unfortunately i believe that has already been bagged by the French...

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[jimi]

Re: Haruumph.

And I like the son that goes with it

The people's flag is deepest red
It shrouded oft our martyred dead
And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold
Their hearts' blood dyed to every fold

Chorus:
Then raise the scarlet standard high
Beneath its folds we'll live and die
Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer
We'll keep the red flag flying here

It waved above our infant might
When all ahead seemed dark as night
It witnessed many a deed and vow
We must not change its colour now

Chorus

It well recalls the triumphs past
It gives the hope of peace at last
The banner bright, the symbol plain
Of human right and human gain

Chorus

It suits today the meek and base
Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place
To cringe beneath the rich man's frown
And haul that sacred emblem down

Chorus

With heads uncovered swear we all
To bare it onward till we fall
Come dungeons dark or gallows grim
This song shall be our parting hymn

Chorus


<hr width=100% size=1>.. when's that again, but ..

 

[AndrewB]

Respect the people, not the symbol.

John! How nice to hear from you again! I was looking at your pic of our yacht just yesterday evening, and wondering how you were.

Respect the people, of course; but not the symbol. In the international yachting community the Red Ensign has become a flag of convenience, the sign of a tax dodging ultra-wealthy American and German owner, about at the level of the Liberian flag. Still, better that than the French tricouleur, the international emblem of the tatty charter fleet.

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[kidnapped]

Sorry guys and gals, but I deplore this move of 'wearing' your national flag on a yacht, boat whatever. It's a trend that started North of the Border, this is the first potential example I have come across South of the Border. Have no problem with flying a national flag from cross trees .... but which side .... port or starboard? Wherever it should be BELOW the Red Ensign.
PS ::: I don't want it defaced in any way, thank you.

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[Mirelle]

Merchant fleet? Seen it lately?

Since Prescott's tonnage tax law, the Red Ensign is just as much a flag of convenience as any other; there are ships flying it where English is not spoken on board from one week to the next.

The couple of respectable British shipping companies remaining usually fly something else - and some of them have significant war records.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[Mirelle]

Re: Oh no! The Ensign Fascists are here again!

Hear Hear. Actually, I don't bother with one, unless for that very purpose, which means they last an awfully long time.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?