MEMORYBABE “Why, gw, would Australians of Irish descent want to have the Union Jack represented on the Australian flag? Is there some special affinity between the British and Irish that I, as an Aussie of Irish heritage, am unaware of?”

do you know nothing of your heritage?

The term Union Jack possibly dates from Queen Anne's time (reigned 1702-14), but its origin is uncertain. It may come from the 'jack-et' of the English or Scottish soldiers; or from the name of James I who originated the first union in 1603, in either its Latin or French form Jacobus or Jacques; or, as 'jack' once meant small, the name may be derived from a royal proclamation issued by Charles II that the Union Flag should be flown only by ships of the Royal Navy as a jack, a small flag at the bowsprit.

1 St George for England and Wales (noting Wales was a principality and not a sovereign country)
2 St Andrew for Scotland
3 St David for Ireland.
These were the Countries which comprised “the Union” as in “Union-Jack”

So Australians of Irish descent, showing respect at least for the colours of their national saint, should really treat the Union Jack with reverence.

Of course, the Australian Flag has a representation of the Union Jack in one corner because of the shared heritage which Australia owes to the “United Kingdom” (again union / united) which of course, despite the outcome of the 1921 plebiscite in which the Southern Counties of Ireland decided to cede from the Union but in which the Northern Counties voted to remain within the “Union”, thus the Union Jack still has relevance to its origins.

Reynard –“ You're dragging the chain with this invasion stuff. Get over it”

Oh yes, some are a bit “slower” than others.

I recall another thread where I made comment to the transitory nature of “multi-culturalism” and the inevitability that “assimilation” was the only outcome which could produce an effective society.

Yes, alot of people need to stop hankering for “what will never be” and work at improving “what is”.

Why not have a Flag Burning Day?We could make it a public holiday with fireworks ect. We could burn flags beginning with Aboriginal,Albanian ,American and then go to Burmese, Belgium through to Lebanese, Saudi Arabia and on . This could take a whole day and every country would have its moment .
Our flag is a symbol of our history,and if the "invasion" upsets some, they should blacklist all products, electricity, transport, communications, money, medicines, that have flowed from that "invasion",have nothing whatever to do with modern housing ,gadgets, cars. You know all those things that have been invented and brought to you by the white races.
This is the most stupid reverse racism in action and if you think you would be better off sitting in the bush eating goanna, go and do so but do not be a hypocrit and use white man's inventions and commodities[what! no sugar! no tea!}then turn around and revile him.

We live below the Southern Cross
Beauteous stars that shine above
There are 5 in all, sometimes we forget
They represent the people & the country that we love

The top star is for the aborigine
Who walked this land for years
The bottom is for all us immigrants
Who brought our cultures to this land & beer

Way to the right we have the rightwingers
Whose heartless views too often stated
Way off to the left we have the other nutters
Whose passion for communism can't be abated.

And in between there are the rest of us
Who think and work and hope
Sometime in our bright history
We will not elect so many dopes

Oh I forgot the little star
It represents people who miss the point
What makes us great is our diversity
All who have helped us create this wonderful joint.

The flag is important for some time yet
But one day it will change
So that it doesn't offend our fantastic aborigines
Whose land we wrongfully claimed

So C'mon Aussies put your brains into gear
Think next time when you vote
For under this weak two party system
We are more likely to get a joke.

Anon

Col - You are so out there with your descriptions of people ... Do you live under a bridge also? You are uncertain of the Union Jack's actual origin... well there is a telling argument to keep it. It might hail from all those things you despise...

mickijo - Now that is being silly .... but if you feel like doing it I will defend your right to do so...Ha!

The strength of democracy and FREEDOM is to defend the right of someone to peacefully protest doing something that you wouldn't do... Flag burning, whilst not my chosen form of protest, is a reasonable non-violent form of protest.

MR KRS 1,

you suggest that the people who burn the Australian flag do it to, 'entirely to irritate people like you'.

'people like me' = people who don't like to see the Australian flag being burned.

'entirely'... no, I don't think so. The people who burn the Australian flag do it for more reasons than to piss people off who don't like to see the Australian flag being burned - the politics of the people who burn the Australian flag may have soemthing to do with it.

- but if you think these people are 'entirely', in other words for no other reson, motivated to burning the Australian flag just to piss of the people who don't like to see it burnt, then i suggest you do not understand the issue. (According to you they may as well make an annoying sound just for the purpose to irritate people)

I never suggested I was "so EDUCATED".

- but I did suggest that people who use the term 'anti-semetic' as 'anti-islamic' are UNEDUCATED. I posted a reference to a Pofessor at Princeton University to make the point.

"Try this- next time you walk to your lecture (what are you studying, to be so EDUCATED?) why not try ignoring the horrible lefties? Or even laughing at them? Coz you better believe they are laughing at you." (KRS 1).

I suggest you do not understand the issue if you think that it is an appropriate response to laugh at the disrespectful offence of burning the Australian flag...

The Australian flag means something to those who have had bolod spilt under it in war by relatives and fellow Australians - it is not something to ignore - you will likely suggest the Australian people also igniore it when their young Australian daughters are hassled, threatend and raped...

And the leftists are too busy burning the Australian flag to be laughing at an Australian who finds it disrespectful... WAKE UP TO YOURSELF!!

.....................................................................

It is Australia, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!

Woah there, big fella! Bit of a stretch to go from burning a bit of fabric to raping someone's daughter, isn't it?

(According to you they may as well make an annoying sound just for the purpose to irritate people)-Thor.

THat's right, Thor. They are UNI STUDENTS. They are getting nose rings, burning flags and doing post-feminist studies for the sole purpose of irritating their parents and squares like yourself. I was one of them, once, though I think I was too busy getting drunk and chasing girls to burn any flags. Anyway, they will grow up and look back on their flag-burning days with embarrassed nostalgia. So go home and have a cry about a burnt flag if you must, but don't try and conflate it into some enormous threat to our way of life.

Oh and incidentally, I do love this country. it's just a pity there's so many idiots in it.

Burning the flag is something I would not do because I have the freedom to respect it and what, I believe, it stands for. One of its most cherished aspects is the freedom of those over which it is flown and that includes the freedom to hate it or love it, for whatever reason.

The hypocrisy would be to remove ourselves from the forums and threads that have advocated the Muslims to respect our freedom of expression and then complain about others that exercise that right at the expense of our own sensibilities.

As for the flag, burn the damn thing. By doing so you exercise your right to express yourself freely while, at the same time, it is obvious that it is nothing more than coloured material to you so you are destroying nothing of real value.

I, for one, respect the flag not for its noble existence for there are bruises and warts aplenty, but because it is the flag of my island home.

Cheers