Keep the flag flying high? MM reveal what St George’s cross means to Manchester

Debate on the symbolic meaning of the St George flag was sparked after Labour MP Emily Thornberry controversially tweeted a picture of a Rochester home on Thursday.

The picture tweeted by the MP, during the Rochester and Strood by-election, showed a Strood terraced house with three England flags hanging from its windows and a white van parked outside it.

The Labour Party politician faced instant backlash from Twitter users who accused the tweet as being ‘snobby’ and ‘judgmental’.

After issuing an apology from her Twitter encouraging people to fly their flags ‘with pride’, the Islington South and Finsbury MP resigned as Shadow Attorney General following talks with Labour leader Ed Miliband in a bid to save the party’s image ahead of the general elections.

However Stockport councillor Kate Butler defended Thornberry saying that her resignation was an ‘overreaction’ and that the tweet was merely ‘ill-judged’.

Cllr Butler admitted that she thought the England flag meant different things to different people. 

With the symbolic meaning of the St George’s flag now questionable, MM asked Mancunians about their thoughts on the flag’s meaning. 

What do you think about when you see the English Flag?

The 39-year-old said: “The English people are what I think about when I see the flag. It’s what it has always been about historically.  People should be proud to be British.”Andrew Doyle, a former accountant from Chorlton, took the sentimental view, believing it had come to show the people.

“This country is one of the best places in the world and it’s wrong that the flag has been abused the way it has.”

Although a number of Mancunians saw the flag as a reference to football, they ultimately believed that the flag was all about the image and heritage of the nation.

ALL ABOUT HERITAGE: Charmaine Croft believes the flag holds a historic representation 

Charmaine Croft, an outdoor instructor from Stretford, 18, said: “I think it represents the nation as a whole. There’s also a huge heritage factor for me personally and I think the flag brings that out in people.”

Elsa McCann, a professional cleaner from Salford, 59, said: “I’d say the nation because I don’t see any symbolism in it.

“I think it splits people into those who see it on a national level and those who see it on a football level.”

Abbie Parsons, 22, put took a military view point, believing that the country’s conflicts with other nations in recent years has made an impact on what the flag had come to represent.

She said: “I grew up with a military family so I’m a patriot and it has always been a timely reminder of the nation for me.

“It’s made a huge impact and it’s what I would think of if I saw one. It’s now a symbol of our fallen”.

RIGHT-WING VIEWS: James Taylor thinks the flag has taken a political meaning

James Taylor, a call centre worker from Altrincham, took the minority view and suggested that parties like UKIP have taken advantage of the flag for their own gain.

The 24-year-old said: “I think it’s been adopted by more extremist political parties and has become a symbol of English independence and is now outdated.

“I don’t see it for any negative reasons but I do think people take things too seriously and UKIP are taking advantage of this.”  

Eloise Davis, a student from Wythenshawe, 19 pointed out a fading heritage that has become attached to the flag.

She said: “I’d say the nation because I’m not into football or politics. The flag has definitely lost some of its heritage though.

“In terms of what Emily Thornberry did, I get why it’s controversial. It did degrade the flag but in the case of football I think it’s just normal for people to hang the flag.”

Linda Wilkinson, a child minder, from Stockport, 52 said: “I don’t do football, but I definitely think that the flag has lost its meaning. Anybody else can hang their flag but suddenly we’re not allowed?”

Mrs. Wilkinson also suggested that the incident was a case of social censors exhibiting a stranglehold on what people can say on the Internet.

She said: “The MP was fired too quickly. In my honest opinion, I think the whole country’s going a bit potty.

“At the end of the day, she did nothing wrong, but that’s the point, you can’t do anything right these days and I think social networks are to blame.”

Scott Russell, 33, from Salford, explained how he thought the levels of immigration have retracted the British identity from the flag.

He said: “I see the nation if I’m honest but there’s not enough British people here to really represent the flag.

“I think we’ve lost our way if I’m honest, we’re in short supply these days.”

Twenty-year-old Daphne Algave, a student from Fallowfield, suggested the idea that the flag’s symbolism has been saturated by fashion and popular trends.

She said: “I feel that the flag his distanced from what it originally represented and now it’s used as a fashion statement in home furnishings. It has taken away now from what it originally represented”.

Jim Gilraine, 39, from Stockport, explained how he saw the flag as an image of multiculturalism.

He said: “Personally, I believe the flag shows everyone together, and that’s what it comes to represent.

“People from everywhere are all here and that’s what this country’s always been about.”

Image courtesy of Sludge G, with thanks.