Agreed, flags have to be seen in context? At the Proms many attendees may be from Europe, others may be celebrating Europe musical culture - Beethoven, Ravel, Grieg, Verdi, Mozart, Sibelius, Shostakovitch, Janáček, Dvořák, etc - as well as British music, and Freddie Mercury came from futher afield, although probably no Zanzibar flags at the RAH?I guess there were probably some Union Jacks - more appropriate for Rule Britannia than St George's which is just England rather than Britain/UK. Unfortunately, the St George's England flag does seem to have been tainted by some of its "far right" associations so many are reluctant to carry it. (Not something the Scottish Saltire or Welsh Dragon has suffered?) The St George's flag does seem to be "recovered" as respectable at some sporting events, many of which relate to England rather than the UK. It was interesting visiting Orkney recently: no St George's flags (well, that's to be expected), but very few Union Flags and Saltires, a few red ensigns (ferrys, and other boats) but lots of Orkney flags - which are very similar to Norwegian and other Scandinavian flags:https://flic.kr/p/2rsWpvZPerhaps this shows where their true allegiances are? Proud to be Orkadians and would prefer to be part of Norway but not in an aggressive way?
Michael Ixer ● 32d