Missing Flags

[Richard W]

The flags of England, Wales, Scotland, Jersey, Guernsey and Sark are missing, though the Manx flag appears to be available. (Unless something has changed, those connected with the Isle of Man of the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey have different rights on the continent to other British citizens, and the immigration processes to those territories is subtly different.)

The alleged flag of Great Britain is in fact the flag of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which is not presented as an option.

The alleged flag of Ireland is in fact the flag of the Republic of Ireland. According to the drop down menu, once this is realised, there is nothing suitable for those from Northern Ireland.

There is no provision for those with 2 or no nationalities, and it is not obvious that one can choose to revert to having no flag. (Otherwise, I'd have risked using the only flag of St George available.) Having two nationalities is often relevant.

[vinny]

Perhaps one for the future?



Then we'll have interplanetary Immigration!

[seasky]

I'm not liking the interjection of flags to this forum. Saying that I am not a moderator nor owner of the board. Even worse I am on thin ice (Someone anonymously disliked the fact that I don't hold in high stature "entrepreneurs" who started kebab stalls) so should not have any say

[CR001]

I'm not liking the interjection of flags to this forum. Saying that I am not a moderator nor owner of the board.

Moderators had nothing to do with this and were just as surprised as other members. You don't have to choose a flag of course

[secret.simon]

As regards missing flags, the most obvious one to my mind is the EU flag.

Funnily enough, I was going to open a thread on the same point, though with emphasis on other aspects. So, thanks to Richard W for getting the ball rolling.

First off, I am concerned that explicitly listing nationalities may lead to subtle, unconscious discrimination. Thus far, nationality and/or citizenship and/or allegiance had to be inferred from the posts, both past and present, of the person. Most people would not go to such lengths to find out the details. However, if it is explicit and on the face of it, I am concerned that unconscious discrimination may kick in.

Secondly, we are an immigration forum. That means that by definition most of us here either have or are associated with somebody straddling two nationalities if not more. Therefore to choose one flag to represent complex choices would fail almost immediately. Another forum for expatriates (migrants by another name) allows two flags to be displayed, one for country of origin and one for country of residence. If flags must be displayed, perhaps that would be an alternative. Of course, that is leaving aside the point that people may not necessarily identify with their nationality or citizenship.

Thirdly, given that the primary focus of these forums is immigration to the UK, British identity is in a state of flux. In the Brexit world, one could identify with being a European-British or with being a Scottish-British or British-English or purely Scottish. The permutations and combinations are endless and varied. And that does not even take into account a person's country of origin.

Given that these forums run on PHP, there is software code publicly available (I will post links when I find it) that allows two images to be merged. Perhaps that would be an alternative (to create a merged EU-British flag or a Scottish-EU flag, for instance).

Thus I think that there are many and varied reasons for either disabling the display of flags completely or varying the modes of display (allowing two or more than two, allowing merging of flags, etc) on these forums.

I'm not liking the interjection of flags to this forum.

In that case, you have made an excellent choice for your own flag

[CR001]

A point to note though, some members are using a flag of the country they live or reside in and not one that reflects their nationality

[mgb]

The idea for a eu flag is not bad.
The eu simply gave the eu citizenship to every citizen of a member state.