Yes I'm in the UK,
Spent a lot of my life working around the world ,

The UK system is a monarcall one ( made up word ? )
we have no "constitution" , its mainly "custom" .

One of the nice things about living near ( even better IN the USA ) is you are constantly aware of their politics and systems.
Fantastic checks and balances designed to lock the systems up if the politicians are not going to play ball and play fair.
But also there is bill of rights.

Clearly spelling out what the BNA act and English common law does not.
What are your rights!!!!

Perhaps now is the time to look at this in the UK.
We adopted this very American idea in 82, I don't know about the Auzies and Kiwis but after a decade of argueing about whagt is provincial and federal resposibilities the Charter of rights and freedoms has done a pretty good job of fire walling the fed and the provinces from the kinds power grabs and intrutions of the state that common law does not expressly forbid

Pulling this off would have been harder with a president also arguing for powers of an elected head of state.

 

Her Majesty Elizabeth II (Alexandra Mary)
21 April 1926 - 8 September 2022

Service begins at 3:01:14:

God Bless the Queen!

 

Who'd a thought?
Hope people know the correct way up to fly them.
Theoretically still a crime in the UK to fly it upside-down.

I understand from a navy friend , that union flag up side down is a distress signal.

 

OK, If you insist :-
I went to a certain very well known university in England, on scholarship. The majority of the students (in the early 60s) were sons of landed gentry (members of the ruling class who had been granted title to land by royalty). They are brought up to believe that they have a divine right to their family's inherited title and are therefore superior to the "commoners" who have no such right. The first son automatically inherits the family title. The rest have to buy a university education to enable them to get a commission in the military or to sit on boards of directors (anything but work for a living!).
Because my parents had no title.I was regarded by my fellow students as a "commoner". This was pointed out to me on every possible occasion. In spite of that, I graduated with honours but I was left with a very poor opinion of the snobbish ruling class. When I got out into the working world, I found that in Britain it was far more important who you knew than what you knew if you wanted to get ahead. The result of all that was that I emigrated to Canada in 1967 and established a very successful technical career.
I will always judge a person by their morals and what they personally achieve in life, not by who their family and associates are or how much wealth they accumulate..

There is a great swipe at this in the Harry potter series.

 

We could debate human rights act and court , but not forum to her majesty please.
Why not start a new post.

 

I understand from a navy friend , that union flag up side down is a distress signal.

It is, but if the Union Jack is flown upside-down in a non emergency occasion it is a punishable offence in the UK.

 

It is, but if the Union Jack is flown upside-down in a non emergency occasion it is a punishable offence in the UK.

HI Max
there are all sorts of funny things re flags
is it the US flag that is not allowed to touch the ground, yet in the UK, we lower to ground as respect as funeral passes.

As for jack / flag , As I understand it,,,
the union flag, if flown on the bow of a navel ship in commission, is a union jack, as its flown on the jack staff !
if its flown else where , its a union flag !
don't you just love the english, all these traditions

 

Now the formalities and rituals are all over, maybe we can get some world news back on the TV !

 

HI Max
there are all sorts of funny things re flags
is it the US flag that is not allowed to touch the ground, yet in the UK, we lower to ground as respect as funeral passes.

As for jack / flag , As I understand it,,,
the union flag, if flown on the bow of a navel ship in commission, is a union jack, as its flown on the jack staff !
if its flown else where , its a union flag !
don't you just love the english, all these traditions

Going around the world in tramp vessels you may call several ports of new countries in a short period being able to collect lot of fines related to the local national flag, whether for flying it upside down (e.g. Panamá/Brazil) or not following the times in use at that port in particular.
The best, forgetting it all night up there!!

Fines are an industry everywhere.

 

Now the formalities and rituals are all over, maybe we can get some world news back on the TV !

News flash:
Same things that kept you up before the Queen passed away are still going on and just as scary.
Highlites at 1100 hours

 

News flash:
Same things that kept you up before the Queen passed away are still going on and just as scary.
Highlites at 1100 hours

From the very time she (Elizabeth) was born, to the day she died, their was some group of humanity somewhere in the world slaughtering another.
It was a little refreshing to see a mass of humanity made up of all walks of life and nationality come together united, whether lining the route, or the thousands sitting in Hyde Park watching it on the big screen, and also on TV around the world.
Too bad it is back to normal a day later!
.

 

there are all sorts of funny things re flags

The two traditions I always liked, because of their stark contrast yet similar intent in honoring a worn out flag, is what to do with a flag that can no longer be flown.

In the U.S., that flag should be ceremoniously burned so that it flies forever.

In the U.K., that flag was (don't know if it has changed) used to as a cleaning rag and/or wadding for cannons so that it continued to serve.

The British tradition stemmed primarily from the navy in which, for practical reasons, ways to recycle things that broke were commonplace. So it's not surprising that they found a rationale by which to justify recycling the cloth in a flag while maintaining the honorable symbolism.

I'm not sure where the U.S. tradition against letting a flag touch the ground, or otherwise get dirty, came from. Many people wrongly believe that the rule is that a flag that does touch the ground or gets dirty can no longer be used. That's not true -- flags can be cleaned and reflown. But once a flag is in such poor condition that it can't be flown, the question of how to dispose of it without running afoul of the etiquette rules comes into play and the best way around it is to simply destroy the flag completely by burning it.

 

HI Max
there are all sorts of funny things re flags
is it the US flag that is not allowed to touch the ground, yet in the UK, we lower to ground as respect as funeral passes.

As for jack / flag , As I understand it,,,
the union flag, if flown on the bow of a navel ship in commission, is a union jack, as its flown on the jack staff !
if its flown else where , its a union flag !
don't you just love the english, all these traditions

And just today I was corrected about a what to call a flag that is only half way up the pole. Apparently, a flag said to be at "half mast" if on a naval vessel (any vessel?) and "half staff" for any other flag pole.

 

Hi,
As the Age Old saying proclaims.

The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King

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