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Then there're hard-to-explain-to-outsider mashups like this: https://unionjackshop.com/product/israel-ulster-flag/ https://unionjackshop.com/product/israel-uls

Then there're hard-to-explain-to-outsider mashups like this: https://unionjackshop.com/product/israel-ulster-flag/ https://unionjackshop.com/product/israel-ulster-flag/ The people of Northern Ireland cannot be said to be lacking a rich symbolic language...

ben_w 4y ago
Uh huh. Well, I certainly count as an outsider, even if theoretically sharing a nationality (British), because that has no obvious connection to me.
- hnbad 4y ago
  As far as I can gather, some people supporting reunification have adopted the Palestinian flag because they see Palestinians as "brothers in spirit" (i.e. seeing themselves as victims of an occupying government seeking to erase their national and cultural identity while they struggle for liberation, or something to that effect). And through a very obvious but also very weird leap of logic, some of those opposing them have adopted the flag of Israel as a symbol of their opposition. And from that point on they probably just went wild and added other unionist symbols to the flag because running around with regular Israeli flags felt weird or something. EDIT: Someone linked a YouTube clip of a comedia making light of the flag situation that has apparently escalated to the point of the Italian flag being used as a symbol of resistance because someone saw an Italian flag in a Northern Irish school and got upset mistaking it for the Irish one. That's probably the biggest parallel to Palestine I can find given that flag drama in Palestine has escalated to the point where watermelons have become a resistance symbol because of the similarity of its colors to the Palestinian flag, which is banned by Israeli police.
  - jan_Inkepa 4y ago
    >EDIT: Someone linked a YouTube clip of a comedia making light of the flag situation that has apparently escalated to the point of the Italian flag being used as a symbol of resistance because someone saw an Italian flag in a Northern Irish school and got upset mistaking it for the Irish one. I can't find any examples of the Italian flag being used as a resistance symbol in Norn, just the initial Willie Fraser incident - if you can share an example I'd like to see it though! (Because it's v. funny if true)
smcl 4y ago
This one isn't too hard to explain, I think. The red Lion Rampant either side of the red hand and star of david suggests that this is likely a flag intended for supporters of Rangers FC [0] - a football club in Glasgow, Scotland. They will take the opposite sides of any conflict from their rivals, Celtic, who have generally shown solidarity with Palestians: https://www.timesofisrael.com/scotlands-celtic-soccer-team-removes-palestinian-flags-displayed-by-fans/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/scotlands-celtic-soccer-team-r... The Northern Ireland connection comes from Rangers being supported by the Protestant population in Scotland/NI, and Celtic being supported by the Catholic population of Scotland/NI[1]. There's a big game on tonight - the Europa League final where Rangers are taking on Eintracht Frankfurt. Keep an eye out for some interesting flags and post-match violence :( [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C.#/media/File:Rangers_FC.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C.#/media/File:Range... [1] - Except if you're in Edinburgh where it's less pronounced but still sort of present (Protestant=Hearts/Catholic=Hibs) or if you consider this sectarian feuding to be a stain on the sport and a national disgrace :)
- basisword 4y ago
  To explain further the reason the Celtic football team supports Palestine is because the nationalist community in general supports Palestine. Mainly owing to the fact that they see broad similarities between NI and Israel/Palestine. Israel and Palestine flags can be seen around NI. Unionists supporting Israel doesn’t have much basis other than “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” unless there’s some deeper meaning I’m not aware of.
  - smcl 4y ago
    That's the historic reason, it makes sense, sounds good and fans on each side will happily justify their respective positions. But for the Old Firm I think the more important thing is to both be in opposition to each other. Consider an alternate history where the British Mandate of Palestine being turned into Israel somehow caused Rangers to immediately declare solidarity with the people of Palestine. I don't think this would be an issue both sides of the Old Firm would be happy to share and come together on, and I can almost guarantee we'd instead be seeing Israeli flags proudly being flown at Parkhead on match day. Sorry I have a fairly cynical view on this and having known and dealt with many fans of either side I have a fairly good idea what motivates them, and it always seemed to boil down to conflict above all else. Edit: Just realised that my views may be coloured by being outside of the country for a decade, it could be that I only remember the worst encounters or conversations or that things are better now, or that I’m just sour every team I wanted to do well this year didn’t (Aberdeen were woeful, Montrose and Arbroath didn’t get promoted) :-)

ben_w 4y ago

Uh huh. Well, I certainly count as an outsider, even if theoretically sharing a nationality (British), because that has no obvious connection to me.

hnbad 4y ago
As far as I can gather, some people supporting reunification have adopted the Palestinian flag because they see Palestinians as "brothers in spirit" (i.e. seeing themselves as victims of an occupying government seeking to erase their national and cultural identity while they struggle for liberation, or something to that effect). And through a very obvious but also very weird leap of logic, some of those opposing them have adopted the flag of Israel as a symbol of their opposition. And from that point on they probably just went wild and added other unionist symbols to the flag because running around with regular Israeli flags felt weird or something. EDIT: Someone linked a YouTube clip of a comedia making light of the flag situation that has apparently escalated to the point of the Italian flag being used as a symbol of resistance because someone saw an Italian flag in a Northern Irish school and got upset mistaking it for the Irish one. That's probably the biggest parallel to Palestine I can find given that flag drama in Palestine has escalated to the point where watermelons have become a resistance symbol because of the similarity of its colors to the Palestinian flag, which is banned by Israeli police.
- jan_Inkepa 4y ago
  >EDIT: Someone linked a YouTube clip of a comedia making light of the flag situation that has apparently escalated to the point of the Italian flag being used as a symbol of resistance because someone saw an Italian flag in a Northern Irish school and got upset mistaking it for the Irish one. I can't find any examples of the Italian flag being used as a resistance symbol in Norn, just the initial Willie Fraser incident - if you can share an example I'd like to see it though! (Because it's v. funny if true)

smcl 4y ago

This one isn't too hard to explain, I think. The red Lion Rampant either side of the red hand and star of david suggests that this is likely a flag intended for supporters of Rangers FC [0] - a football club in Glasgow, Scotland. They will take the opposite sides of any conflict from their rivals, Celtic, who have generally shown solidarity with Palestians: https://www.timesofisrael.com/scotlands-celtic-soccer-team-removes-palestinian-flags-displayed-by-fans/ https://www.timesofisrael.com/scotlands-celtic-soccer-team-r... The Northern Ireland connection comes from Rangers being supported by the Protestant population in Scotland/NI, and Celtic being supported by the Catholic population of Scotland/NI[1]. There's a big game on tonight - the Europa League final where Rangers are taking on Eintracht Frankfurt. Keep an eye out for some interesting flags and post-match violence :( [0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C.#/media/File:Rangers_FC.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangers_F.C.#/media/File:Range... [1] - Except if you're in Edinburgh where it's less pronounced but still sort of present (Protestant=Hearts/Catholic=Hibs) or if you consider this sectarian feuding to be a stain on the sport and a national disgrace :)

basisword 4y ago
To explain further the reason the Celtic football team supports Palestine is because the nationalist community in general supports Palestine. Mainly owing to the fact that they see broad similarities between NI and Israel/Palestine. Israel and Palestine flags can be seen around NI. Unionists supporting Israel doesn’t have much basis other than “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” unless there’s some deeper meaning I’m not aware of.
- smcl 4y ago
  That's the historic reason, it makes sense, sounds good and fans on each side will happily justify their respective positions. But for the Old Firm I think the more important thing is to both be in opposition to each other. Consider an alternate history where the British Mandate of Palestine being turned into Israel somehow caused Rangers to immediately declare solidarity with the people of Palestine. I don't think this would be an issue both sides of the Old Firm would be happy to share and come together on, and I can almost guarantee we'd instead be seeing Israeli flags proudly being flown at Parkhead on match day. Sorry I have a fairly cynical view on this and having known and dealt with many fans of either side I have a fairly good idea what motivates them, and it always seemed to boil down to conflict above all else. Edit: Just realised that my views may be coloured by being outside of the country for a decade, it could be that I only remember the worst encounters or conversations or that things are better now, or that I’m just sour every team I wanted to do well this year didn’t (Aberdeen were woeful, Montrose and Arbroath didn’t get promoted) :-)