So a nation's own flag is considered a racist symbol by some? Disgusting, to say the least--and I'm saying this as an American. Further, it's not like this is coming out of Ireland or some other foreign country with a national identity which is intimately tied in with anti-British feelings. Wakefield prison is in West Yorkshire--that's England for the uninitiated!

The Saint George's Cross is the official flag of England. The Union Jack, so familiar to us all, is actually the flag of the United Kingdom of England, Scotland, and Wales. The Saint George's Cross remains the symbol of English national identity today.

IC Sefton and West Lancs:

Prison officers who wore a St George's Cross tie-pin have been ticked off by the jails watchdog.

The English national flag could be "misinterpreted" as a racist symbol, Chief Inspector of Prisons Anne Owers said in a report on Wakefield prison.

The pins had been bought by officers at the top security jail to support a cancer charity.

A section on race relations in Ms Owers' report said: "We were concerned to see a number of staff wearing a flag of St George tie pin.

"While we were told that these had been bought in support of a cancer charity there was clear scope for misinterpretation, and Prison Service Orders made clear that unauthorised badges and pins should not be worn."

As one of her formal recommendations Ms Owers said: "Staff should not wear unauthorised tie pins."

UPDATE: More from CNN via LGF:

Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, said Tuesday the red cross was an insensitive reminder of the Crusades.

“A lot of Muslims and Arabs view the Crusades as a bloody episode in our history,” he told CNN. “They see those campaigns as Christendom launching a brutal holy war against Islam.

“Muslim or Arab prisoners could take umbrage if staff wore a red cross badge. It’s also got associations with the far-right. Prison officers should be seen to be neutral.”

Doyle added that it was now time for England to find a new flag and a patron saint who is “not associated with our bloody past and one we can all identify with.”

Posted by: Rusty at 09:40 AM | Comments (25) | Add Comment
Post contains 393 words, total size 3 kb.

1 That's the consistent M.O. Find something you don't like and use a benign rule (like "no unauthorized pins") to enforce your opinion. I wonder, had the pin been a happy face, would they enforce the rule?

Posted by: Oyster at October 04, 2005 09:50 AM (fl6E1)

2 Sweden may be the first European country to fall to radical Islam, but Britain will be the second. I doubt there will even be a struggle in Britain, as one appeasement after another will one day give over to capitulation.

Posted by: jesusland joe at October 04, 2005 10:21 AM (rUyw4)

3 So messed up! Call the Religious Policeman and see what he thinks of it.

Posted by: babs at October 04, 2005 10:48 AM (fAmiP)

4 England, Scotland, NORTHERN IRELAND, and Wales. ;-)

Posted by: Dean Esmay at October 04, 2005 10:54 AM (Fs6IG)

5 Don't ever call a guy from Wales English. I made that mistake once and was reprimanded for it, not harshly but if you suspect a person is from "England" ask them if they are from the UK instead.

Posted by: Marcus Aurelius at October 04, 2005 10:55 AM (5J2HH)

6 Dean, If I'm not mistaken, the Union Jack was adopted in 1717, before unification with Northern Ireland...

Posted by: Rusty Shackleford at October 04, 2005 11:00 AM (JQjhA)

7 "there was clear scope for misinterpretation" What exactly would that be? I'm English? I'm from England? I love my country, which happens to be England? Or perhaps it's the ever-popular: In case you've forgotten, you're incarcerated in my country, England. I bet the charity is sorry for all the suffering it's caused. But they should still be forced to make a public apology.

Posted by: tee bee at October 04, 2005 11:06 AM (q1JHF)

8 tee bee, Are you serious or did you forget to put the sarcasm tag on?

Posted by: jesusland joe at October 04, 2005 11:26 AM (rUyw4)

9 And how do we purchase one of these racist pins (and support the charity?)

Posted by: Fred Fry at October 04, 2005 12:12 PM (JXdhy)

10 An English flag flying over an English jail is racist - to who? Apparently to non-English prisoners (these are common criminals right?). A possible simple solution - transfer said prisoners to jails in their own "homelands". Universally, jailers have little love for common scum - especially their own. Scots to Scotland, Welsh to Wales etc. I guessing but - "racist?" - maybe some of these prisoners are Carribean, African and Arab/Muslim. Fine! - same solution - serve their criminal sentences back home in a nice well regulated clean prison amongst their "brothers". Anyone want to venture a guess what prison conditions are like in those areas - especially for low-life criminal scum. just an idea.

Posted by: hondo at October 04, 2005 01:19 PM (4Gtyc)

11 What now will they declare old glory a rascis symbol and demand it be replaced with the earth in a rainbow flag like the eco-freaks like to tote around? how long will it be before they demand we replace the BALD EAGLE with a dumb pink chicken or replace the STAR SPANGLED BANNER with that stupid THE AGE OF AQUARUIS?

Posted by: sandpiper at October 04, 2005 02:35 PM (PObDu)

12 JJ, it's no fun if you always telegraph the joke. I'm surprised CAIR hasn't raised a fuss about it. Yet.

Posted by: tee bee at October 04, 2005 02:49 PM (q1JHF)

13 First the English give up their pigs, now they are talking about giving up their flag? Someone in England need to grow a pair. This would never happen in Scotland. Maybe they can borrow some from them.

Posted by: Maureen at October 04, 2005 03:44 PM (ny5O/)

14 I'm still trying to figure out what racist statement exactly this pin is supposed to be misinterpreted as.

Posted by: Oyster at October 04, 2005 04:50 PM (fl6E1)

15 Oyster: I'm guessing they reference the "cross of the crusader" I believe they said King Richard had it on his shield during the crusades? Just remember, if a revolution comes in the U.K it will be fought with clubs, seeing as guns are already restricted and long knives soon will be banned! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4581871.stm The british nanny-state might also ban wooden impliments by that point though, and rocks, you've got to ban big nasty rocks.

Posted by: dave at October 04, 2005 05:04 PM (CcXvt)

16 case in point: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/4284522.stm Cooing at new-born babies banned A West Yorkshire hospital has banned visitors from cooing at new-born babies over fears their human rights are being breached and to reduce infection.

Posted by: dave at October 04, 2005 05:32 PM (CcXvt)

17 Holy cow. Cooing at babies - banned? I read the article and it said that "people sometimes touch or talk about the baby"? I'm confused. Maybe they do things differently there, but here, no one touches the babies but their mothers and nurses. (In some instances, other family members may also in the mother's room) If they're not in the mother's room, they're in a walled off nursery, sometimes with a big window for viewing. What are they doing? Putting them out in the hallways?

Posted by: Oyster at October 04, 2005 06:22 PM (YudAC)

18 Oyster: when I was in the U.K Hospitals, the babies were held in rooms with a viewing window similar to the U.S model. However even with the "touching" factor the headline was "over fears their human rights were being breached" before concerns of Germs I actually checked the URL of the story, to make sure someone hadn't made it look like bbc.uk site and posted it. I thought for sure someone was making fun of the British P.C culture till I saw it actually was the BBC

Posted by: dave at October 04, 2005 06:39 PM (CcXvt)

19 I rest my case!

Posted by: jesusland joe at October 04, 2005 08:28 PM (rUyw4)

20 England is lost. Imams will be calling for Friday prayers from the Tower Bridge in 5 years. Don't forget, it was Blair who appointed the new "advisor", a muslim who denies that Jews were systematically murdered in WWI and his wife who fought the prohibition of muslim clothing in the public schools.

Posted by: MCPO Airdale at October 04, 2005 11:53 PM (WOQ34)

21 Sounds like the English are going butts up to the muslim hoard they allowed in their country. Shame. I never would have believed it a few years ago. Shit they are making the same mistakes as we.

Posted by: greyrooster at October 05, 2005 06:06 AM (ywZa8)

22 Well its like what the NAACP are trying to co with the confederate flag its no different just your avrage PC crowd of fools looking for the attention of the liberal left-wing news media

Posted by: sandpiper at October 05, 2005 09:19 AM (XnXsx)

23 can i just say complete crap the english flag is racist i mean stupid can some people get its are herritage and now there trying to wipe that im very proud to be english or british what ever its damn stupid

Posted by: dean at October 07, 2005 10:09 PM (OYSfB)

24 Oh yea! Hondo is a genius.

Posted by: greyrooster at October 08, 2005 12:02 AM (M7kiy)

25 I can't believe it, my co-worker just bought a car for $44238. Isn't that crazy!

Posted by: Betsy Markum at November 16, 2005 09:33 PM (HpDlV)

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