New Zealand's flag

Dear New Zealand,

You're about to embark upon a referendum to decide if you're going to change your flag or not. It's totally your decision but what it says to the outside world has come up and some Kiwis have asked what we think about it. So here's a Brit on two key issues.

Firstly, yes we do get confused. That said we're more likely to think this:

is the flag of Australia than this:

is the flag of New Zealand. We're sorry about this. In our defence you're not alone. Flags on the European continent are very confusing as well because so many use the same basic design and many of the same colours. There was only a token effort in my school days and since then a good number of countries have changed their flags or even separated out, rendering those lessons even less effective. And we're far from the only ones to make the mistake - even Australian monarchists have used your flag by mistake.

So yes, I can see why you might want to change it to look less like Australia. But didn't your flag come first? Isn't Australia the thief?

But secondly we're told that the currently apparently means New Zealand is controlled by the UK. This is news to us. We don't really control our own country let alone anyone else's. You're a free and independent country and have been for some considerable time. Nobody here looks at your flag and thinks the presence of the Union Jack means you're a colony or overseas territory (or that Australia is!).

However don't worry that we'll feel offended if you change it. We'll still like you, just as we still like Canada. It's entirely your decision.

Do we need a Flag Day?

I have just learnt that today is Flag Day in the United States. (Hattip Walaa Idris: Happy Flag Day!) I have to admit to not being aware of this before but then Flag Day probably has about as much trans-Atlantic awareness as the Queen's Official Birthday.

I'm surprised that the US needs a special day for the flag as they seem to have it on display all the time. By contrast it's much rarer to see the Union Jack * flown here, even though most government departments can now fly it all year round, expect perhaps during international football matches.

In recent years some politicians have suggested that we need to wave the flag a bit more as though it will solve the problems of integration in British society. (Well okay some of them also talk about tinkering with the school history curriculum as a magic wand solution.) That rather misses one of the key factors of the British national character - we tend to be reserved and not shout about these things. A special day to commemorate the flag is about as British as the White House.

(* Before some pedant starts writing in the comments; it's not 100% clear that "It's only called the Union Jack when at sea" is accurate. And regardless of regulations it's the familiar name for the flag.)

The upside down flag - a mistake or a subtle message?

Yesterday at the signing of a trade agreement with China the Union Jack (let's end this nonsense that that name is inaccurate) was displayed upside down. (BBC News: Flag mistake at UK-China ceremony) The government has since stated this was a mistake.

Now okay the flag is relatively easy to get the wrong way round but it's not as if the government doesn't use the flag regularly. And the agreement was signed by Peter Mandelson - a man notorious for both control freakery and sending out the right message. He is not someone one associates with casual errors of presentation.

So was this really a error or was the flag in fact being deliberately "flown" upside down as used in an old distress signal?