From a More Innocent Time

[Walter Glover]

4x5 negative scanned and digitally prepared & presented.

[alexn]

Another great image Walter.

I find it funny how the years and someones interpretation can change the meaning of a symbol...

[Alastair Moore]

I remember first seeing that symbol years ago outside it's more recent context and was quite horrified to see it. It really made me feel uncomfortable.

Funnily enough, I feel the same when I see a Union flag/jack - being a pom, when I see a union jack back in the UK, it tends to be wrapped around the shoulders of angry racists as they've pretty much laid claim to the flag and so when I see it flying outside people's houses or on the street, it also makes me feel uncomfortable, which is a shame.

[Walter Glover]

Strangely enough Welly,

When I have been in England and see the Union Flag flying all over the place it has always struck me as a battle standard — which I guess it was. Our Australian flag, by comparison, does not have that impact (maybe because I am so used to it and it has become benign) but looks instead like a corporate identification. I guess it is still ultimately a rallying point.

Amidst the hype of the current events in London I guess the flag, any flag, is at its most potent, but I am not a nationalist and believe we would be better served by symbols of unity rather than symbols of tribal division left over from the past.