Christian Travelers Guide

Of different flags and English Hymns

Oh I did love it. A good Royal Wedding done in all its glory and pageantry. I have to confess to having a tear in my eye at the sight of The Mall, resplendent in red, white and blue glory. I recruited a few more girls in to come and watch it with me as for some obscure and surprising reason it turns out sons are rubbish at empathising over the cut of the dress, the jaunt of the hats or the Abbey decor. They take after their father.

My favourite part was the moment the chords to the hymn ‘Jerusalem’ struck up and the whole country decided to sing with some lustiness and fervour. After all who can resist singing along to Jerusalem; it’s a humdinger, corking, belter of a hymn. So, with 2 billion people from every country in the world watching we thought we’d just remind the whole of the rest of the world about our innate superiority. I had momentary visions of the Middle Easterners looking at each other in confusion ‘whoa there England, you dropped out of the race for Jerusalem when your Empire collapsed, now you want to build it in somewhere in the Shires? Are you serious? We’ve got enough problems without you wading in. And you want God to save your Queen as well? Sheesh you lot want everything.’

One thing though struck me above all others. I haven’t seen the Union Jack flag out in such force for years. Recently it has been the red cross of St. George that has been prevalent at flag waving events in England. When I was growing up in the 1980s, the Union Jack was everywhere. When England played football we waved the British Union Jack, just have a look at some of the footage of the 1990 World Cup semi final between England and Germany. The St. George’s cross was somehow tainted with xenophobia and occasionally feared as the preserve of the more extreme English Nationalists such as the BNP.

Sometime in the 1990s it all changed. Now the St. George’s Cross is everywhere and is flown by all the English communities. It makes sense; it is the English team that plays football, the Scots, Welsh and Irish all play for their own teams, so we shouldn’t fly our joint flag. But what the Royal Wedding highlighted for me is the lack of British events for the Union Jack to flutter at. We don’t really celebrate our Britishness anymore; our identity has become more tied up with being English, Irish, Scottish or Welsh. I wonder which flags we’ll be supporting the 2012 Team GB Olympic Team with?