hi the other thay i was reading some thread and i started to make right click on the flags i didn't know to see wicj country they belong, one of them was the flag of Wales, and then i noticed something, there are flags for the four countries of the UK (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) but also a there is a flag of the UK, so why is this? is there any special reason for having the UK flag? why some of you choosed the UK flag instead of your country flag? am i wrong in anything i said?
because everybody in the UK is both british, and either scottish/welsh etc. some people rank being british over being scottish for example, whereas some people think the other way round. If i get asked my nationality i say british, but because this is predominantly a UK forum, i put scottish just to avoid confusion. doesnt do any harm to have the union jack as a choice.
The Union jack, the flag of the United kingdom, is an combination of all 4 flags, however, some people from either country are fiercly patriotic about their country, and see themselves as either Scottish, English or Welsh, rather than British.
It's difficult to do actual flag ratios if the graphics are that dinky (indeed, some look a bit silly), I wonder how it handles the flag of Nepal (wierd shape) and ones like Gibraltar (intricate graphics on a small image).
I think all the flags are 18 by 12. Finland's issue is more visible because it is 18 by 11.
EDIT : I've chopped together a 18 by 11 version of the Finnish flag in LFS style, if anyone cares I'll attach it.
EDIT 2 : Not all the flags are 18 by 12, the Union Flag is 17 by 11. I'll test what the Nepal one looks like ...
On the 1st of May 1707 England and Scotland signed the Treaty of Union in the "Act of Union" to make the "Kingdom of Great Britain". This made the original Union Flag which was a red cross with a blue background with the white X shape.
On 1 January 1801 The Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", and the red X was added to the flag.
Wales was never included in any formal way and is not represented on the flag. Wales has not existed as a sovereign state since the fall of Owain Glyndwr (although this, it should be noted, is a simplification of his actual name "Owain ap Gruffydd Fychan"), although even that time was just a short-lived rebellion - Wales hasn't really been a "country" since the Romans kicked our asses.
In 1999, against all better judgement, Wales was granted devolution and it's own national assembly (parliament). Most Welsh people dont want devolution because we know damned well we'd be broke without English money, but we'll still wave the flag about and insist we're not English.
It tends to be English people that use the Union Jack, because not many of us see a point in being patriotic about a country famous for football hooligans, teenage pregnancy and alcoholics. Also in motorsport you have to use the Union Jack, I seem to remember the FIA kept bothering DC about it.
No, Ireland is not in the United Kingdom...only Northern Ireland, but they don't count
I'll have ye know that on the 6th of December in 1922, Ireland signed the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which split the relations between the Rep. of Ireland and the United Kingdom, only leaving 6 counties to the British - Northern Ireland.