Irvine's flag?

Hi Stanley, Eddie Irvine is indeed Irish, but he is from Northern Ireland, which as of today is part of the United Kingdom. So is Scotland. In the case of Northern Ireland this may change, and if the Scottish Nationalist Party get their way Scotland might also eventually leave the Union. The British Flag is also called the Union Flag to represent the union of England, Scotland and Ireland. It is actually made up of the red cross of St George (England), the white diagonal cross (or "saltire") of St Andrew (Scotland) and the red diagonal cross of St Patrick (Ireland). The Welsh do not get their own bit of the flag. So unless political changes occur, English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish drivers and teams will be honoured under the Union Flag and "God Save the Queen" will be played. I believe Eddie Irvine may have dual citizenship, and he certainly displays some orange and green on his helmet. I hope this helps to make things clear. Tim

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>Hi, >Just one question to all the delirious Fast Eddie fans out there. Should >the Irish flag and national anthem be used? If not, are they strictly >ceremonial (ie. deferential to the UK)? I realise DC also drives under >the Union Jack, but I'm really curious about this technicality. >Stanley Chan

> The British Flag is also > called the Union Flag to represent the union of England, Scotland and > Ireland. And Wales!!!! Why do we never get a mention? :-) ***y typical, just because you conquered us 800 years ago and so completely, you can not even be bothered to include a tiny fragment of what is, without any doubt the most evocative and aesthetically pleasing flag in the world :-) Cheers, Paul

Hello Paul Yes I agree it's outrageous, and just to stamp it home the Welsh dragon is on the Royal Standard (the Queen's personal flag)! I am interested to know if there have been any Welsh racing drivers since Morgan the Wheels of Pontypridd had his licence taken away for speeding in 1953. Dioch! Tim

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>> The British Flag is also >> called the Union Flag to represent the union of England, Scotland and >> Ireland. >And Wales!!!! Why do we never get a mention? :-) >> The Welsh do not get their own bit >> of the flag. >***y typical, just because you conquered us 800 years ago and so

completely, >you can not even be bothered to include a tiny fragment of what is, without any >doubt the most evocative and aesthetically pleasing flag in the world :-) >Cheers, >Paul

> I am interested to know if there have been any Welsh racing drivers since > Morgan the Wheels of Pontypridd had his licence taken away for speeding in > 1953. Not so many - 2 in fact: Tom Pryce came from Ruthin, Denbighshire in Wales started 42 F1 Grand Prixes. He got one F1 pole in the British Grand Prix in a Shadow-Ford in 1975 (but crashed out). He got two podium finishes, both 3rds in the 1975 Austrian and the 1976 Brazilian. Alan Rees from Newport, Gwent started one race, the British Grand Prix in 1967 (so he's a Grand Prix Legend) in a Cooper-Masarati and got a creditable 9th place 4 laps down on Clark. Cheers, Paul

Well, England may have lost it's empire, but it still has, whether it wants to or not anymore, Northern Ireland! Last year Irvine requested that the Irish National Anthem be played when he got a 2nd, I believe- and the request was turned down. One of the local FOX Sports guys said (regarding Irvine's win) something along the lines of "this is a great day for the British." Struck me as funny. But then, I don't live in europe; maybe it was indeed. I imagine it was an even bigger day in Ireland, though. Fact is, maybe it is just me, but playing the national anthem of the driver that wins strikes me as strange- this is not the Olympics, after all, where a nation actually joins together to send a team representing it. Seems reminsicent of the kind of nationalism that made for lots of problems in this century.

> Fact is, maybe it is just me, but playing the national anthem of the > driver that wins strikes me as strange- this is not the Olympics, > after all, where a nation actually joins together to send a team > representing it. Seems reminsicent of the kind of nationalism that > made for lots of problems in this century. I agree 100%. Petty nationalism if you ask me. That they would not let Eddie race for the country of his choice is outrageous. Congratulations to him for winning, though. Cheers, Paul

Hi, Just one question to all the delirious Fast Eddie fans out there. Should the Irish flag and national anthem be used? If not, are they strictly ceremonial (ie. deferential to the UK)? I realise DC also drives under the Union Jack, but I'm really curious about this technicality. Stanley Chan

I'm not 10000% sure about this, but i seem to recall Irvine asking (1-2 years ago) for a "neutral" (United Nations or what ever) flag to shown if he got on the podium... If i recall right, his parents received some "threathening" phone calls after the Union Jack (or was it the Irish flag?) was shown on one occation. -- All the best, Edwin Solheim **remove spamguard in address to reply** Drop by "The Paddock - a legendary site....." for some cool GPL stuff! http://home.c2i.net/thepaddock >> Fact is, maybe it is just me, but playing the national anthem of the >> driver that wins strikes me as strange- this is not the Olympics, >> after all, where a nation actually joins together to send a team >> representing it. Seems reminsicent of the kind of nationalism that >> made for lots of problems in this century. >I agree 100%. Petty nationalism if you ask me. >That they would not let Eddie race for the country of his choice is >outrageous. >Congratulations to him for winning, though. >Cheers, >Paul

Yes I remember that happening too. Craig http://www.btinternet.com/~the.solicitors Great Song Lyrics, No2 Cheap Lovers Make Expensive Wives. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ >I'm not 10000% sure about this, but i seem to recall Irvine asking (1-2 >years ago) for a "neutral" (United Nations or what ever) flag to shown if he

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>got on the podium... If i recall right, his parents received some >"threathening" phone calls after the Union Jack (or was it the Irish flag?) >was shown on one occation. >-- >All the best, >Edwin Solheim **remove spamguard in address to reply** >Drop by "The Paddock - a legendary site....." for some cool GPL stuff! >http://home.c2i.net/thepaddock >>> Fact is, maybe it is just me, but playing the national anthem of the >>> driver that wins strikes me as strange- this is not the Olympics, >>> after all, where a nation actually joins together to send a team >>> representing it. Seems reminsicent of the kind of nationalism that >>> made for lots of problems in this century. >>I agree 100%. Petty nationalism if you ask me. >>That they would not let Eddie race for the country of his choice is >>outrageous. >>Congratulations to him for winning, though. >>Cheers, >>Paul

On Sun, 07 Mar 1999 17:44:19 GMT, "Tim Leighton" >Hi Stanley, >Eddie Irvine is indeed Irish, but he is from Northern Ireland, which as of >today is part of the United Kingdom. The Fox Sports Net commentators muddied matters. One of them mentioned something about Belfast, but then "corrected" it to Dublin, which led me to the impression that he was from Ireland rather than Northern Ireland. Perhaps this explains Stanley's question. -- Jonathan Bishop