If Ireland is so great….

British Nationalism, British National, British National Party. Our? If “our”, then were all BNP.

You’re just playing with words. Does that mean anyone who works (i.e labours) must be members of the Labour Party!

The Union Flag symbolises The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Most of us know that its elements come from the countries that went to make up the UK, but now it just stands for the UK. Even as a anti-monarchist leftie pro EU, that still symbolises our country and I’m glad it’s been rescued from the bonehead fascist tendency.

OK, the current Welsh flag wasn’t around when the Union Flag was designed and maybe it’s a pity that Wales isn’t somehow included. However the Welsh dragon is the best looking of UKs sub-national flags and stands out in its own right. On purely aesthetic terms it would spoil the Union flag if they tried to incorporate the dragon as the two strong designs would conflict and dilute the overall effect.

A good designer would be able to make a flag incorporate all the right things and still look wonderful. You just don’t want the Welsh dragon!

In an earlier post I said I’m a quarter Welsh and quarter Irish by ancestry – I said it’s a pity Wales isn’t represented in the national flag and the red dragon (ddraig goch) flag is an excellent design.

But I don’t think it could be incorporated in the Union flag unless it’s either very small, implying Wales is insignificant, or plastered in the middle, implying Wales takes precedence.

If it is placed in one corner, as a ‘quarter’, then the English, Scottish and ancient Irish crosses are no longer crosses and thus meaningless.

While we’re on the subject of Celtic and Celts, the ‘indiginous’ English are, apparently, in terms of the gene pool, almost as celtic as the Welsh and Irish and about the same as the Scots. The English celtic / pre-celtic gene pool was diluted mainly by Danes in the north, while the Scots by Vikings and Picts. The Romans and Saxons might have conquered England and imposed their cultures but they didn’t significantly affect the genetic make-up. The last invaders, the Normans, remain as the aristocracy, apparently genetically remarkbly intact after nearly 1000 years.

I got some of this from a UCL study that set out to find the levels of Saxon and Danish genetic ancestry in the Britsih Isles. Apparently they found it difficult to distinguish between Dane and Saxon genes but the study threw up the surprisingly high level of celtic genes in the English. Not so surprising really, since the Iceni of East Anglia, led by Boudicca, were Celts. However, the greatest propertion of our gene pool is pre-celtic, dating back to the ‘aboriginal’ population, who migrated into the area at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels were lower because so much of the planet’s water was locked up in glaciers and most of what’s now the North Sea was dry land (15-20,000 years ago)

By comparison, the Celts invaded about 2500 years ago, the Romans 2000 years ago and the Normans in 1066.

Hey at least you’re neighbors with the Irish, your histories are somewhat entwined. The English today wouldn’t be where they are without the Irish, and the Irish CERTAINLY wouldn’t be where they are today without the English.

I live in Boston, which should REALLY be called New Dublin or something similar. There are SO many Irish immigrants and Americans with Irish lineage here that there’s Irish in just about EVERY family if you dig back far enough. The funny thing is the VAST majority of these people don’t know the first damn thing about Ireland or Irish history.

Maybe they’re proud of their culture and heritage, but there are just more opportunities for them in England. Maybe it’s just that the English football teams are better.

I had a lovely holiday in Ireland last summer. We were in County Galway and we travelled right across the country to get there from Rosslare. Beautiful scenery, yes, and I was enthralled by it. But living as I do in the West Country of England, the ‘Emerald Isle’ bit was lost on me!!!