Flags are a tricky thing.
Emma Kennedy was widely abused on Twitter this week for daring to suggest there is something sinister about Tory MPs standing in front of flags.
It was the socio-political-economic theorist Gregor Duabinski who said that “Paul Gilroy was right, there’s no black in the union jack but there is red, white and blue”.
Red: for the blood of colonialism. Blue: Conservatism. White: white supremacy.
As Emma put it, “we never used to do this”. Now I’m not sure who the “we” is but before this aforementioned sentence, she said “I’ve noticed lots of Tory ministers recently talking in front of flags.”
Surely she cannot mean “we” as in Tories? I don’t think I’ve ever even met a genuine Tory! Well not one brave enough to admit it to me.
But the sad truth is, politicians have always loved their flags;
The issue is, as I have said deeply complex. All flags are offensive to a certain degree.
As a 100% Irish-blooded young lady, personally the Irish tricolour offends me. I speak of course of its colonial origins — the band of orange. I have done extensive research on the flag and a website has informed me the idea was;
“The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green and I trust that beneath its folds the hands of Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics may be clasped in generous and heroic brotherhood”
Look at how that worked out!
