Democrat May-June 2012 (Number 129)
Flags and Monarchs
Subjects and Citizens
The celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign raised some interesting questions. The Scots would ask is it not Queen Elizabeth I? Great Britain is a monarchy in which we are all subjects. As part of the European Union we have duties and responsibilities as EU citizens.
Britain is subjugate to legislation and policies passed by EU institutions.
The Queen or ministers in ‘her’ government using the Royal Prerogative, has signed ratification of all the treaties from Rome to Lisbon. That is something royalists prefer not to know or be reminded of.
This is indicated in the House of Commons’ symbol where the crown appears above the portcullis. This dates back to the English Civil War when to make a strong political point a king’s head was chopped off by the Parliamentary forces.
More importantly the peoples of Britain have been denied a say through a referendum on whether or not they agree to the latest treaties including the imposition of the European Constitution.
All the flag waving, bunting and junket were to continue the illusion that Britain is Great and still “rules the waves” and to bolster the monarchy.
It was noticeable that Britannia was brought once again to the fore despite the fact that there is not much of a merchant navy and the Royal Navy is a shadow of former years.
The flag waved, the Union flag, paints another illusion that it represents the nations of the United Kingdom. For starters, Wales is not in the flag. Next, Ireland remains partitioned and the red salter (diagonal cross) on a white background was the flag of the planted family of Fitzgerald.
Incidentally the harp representing Ireland in one quadrant of the royal coat of arms should not be there - that has even been acknowledged by Buckingham Palace but continues to be used.
Further, Unionists in Northern Ireland have used the English Cross not the red salter. They have even placed the Ulster hand in the centre of the cross but this flag isn’t officially recongnised.
The red salter remains part of the Union flag despite the fact that six counties of the province of Ulster were partitioned off leaving two counties across the border in the Republic of Ireland.
The offset red salter on the white Scottish salter share space under the dominant English cross. This represents which nation rules the local common market. People object if the Union flag is hung the wrong way up!
As Britain is subjugated to the EU it is a wonder that the blue flag with twelve stars does not appear in one quadrant of the union flag! Further, the blue flag with stars was pinched from the Council of Europe - a larger and separate formation of European states to the EU. In addition neither this flag nor the EU anthem are legal. The flag was taken out of the EU Constitution to help pro-EU politicians pretend there was to be no federalist EU.
Flags and symbols are important as slogans in putting a message across. For that reason they can be very emotive and of course important. It is time to recognise what they represent and to up date them or have our own.
There is a move to attain an independent Scotland which of course is up to the peoples of Scotland.