Thought I would flag this up , recent events have encouraged me to re-examine my own thoughts, memories and work !
I was surprised to see the Regent Street flag display compared to Nazi Germany the other day , I’m not naïve, I understand this response , its not a million miles away from my own instincts when I photographed the far right marching down Whitehall with the flag in 1980 but its not the same , its interesting to see how “The Flag” is borrowed , misused and corrupted as a political and commercial symbol by so many groups with various levels of integrity, intent and understanding , “The Flag” has become the UK icon of everything in 2022 which in turn has diminished or at least confused its meaning and significance to everyone !
I’m old enough to remember a time when the flag carried less baggage than it does now , the flag has become increasingly politicised & commercialised in modern Britain , a Britain that has many more food banks than McDonalds restaurants !
The Regent Street display appears to have opened up a debate of what the flag means in twenty first century England , I say England because this debate becomes increasingly complicated when opened up to the other countries that makeup the UK , “The Flag” features heavily in my State Of Britain series as the Brexit era certainly promoted increased levels of nationalism , this increased feeling of patriotism was reflected visually on the streets of England in many forms which is why it appears in my series so often , as I made my flag based photographs I was never certain of the “Flag Wavers” intent , the flag waving intention is almost always ambiguous , in short the waving of a nations flag is no longer seen as a simple act of national pride by some , it has been corrupted , appropriated and associated with supermarkets , small cars , far right political groups and anyone else who can print it or wave it nowadays , sadly in 2022 we have to look beyond the flag and examine the the motivations of flag wavers to understand or gain a insight into intentions, it is no longer the simple act that it once was , in 2022 those waving the nations flag are viewed with suspicion , rightly or wrongly , check out the State Of Britain series to see more “Ambiguous” iconography from the Brexit era …
The content of the picture below is shot as found , it does not help me with the intent question , in fact it confuses me , it is either a very sarcastic display or a patriotic own goal , proof if proof were needed that this national icon really does mean different things to different folk , its all down to your personal interpretation …
I grew up in a shipbuilding community and used to get pulled out of school to stand by the roadside and wave “The Flag” on what felt like the coldest and longest of days when royalty drove past at speed and ships were launched , I never ever saw the Queen or a ship launched as a kid , I stood by that road for hours , although I did grow up to become the official photographer for the launch of the Shields Ferry , one of the last vessels to be built by Swan , Hunters and launched on the Tyne ,
The glory days of flag waving , living the dream and freezing my bits off , I’m not bitter, honest …
