And it's a very happy 400th birthday today to Jack. That's Union Jack, or 'Union flag' to give him his proper name. It was officially created on this day in 1606, but not quite looking as it does now, because the Irish bit (the red saltire or diagonal cross of St. Patrick) was added later. Why not celebrate this 400th anniversary by buying a pointless souvenir? (Other pointless souvenirs are probably available from adverts inside your newspaper's weekend supplement.)

Some people were campaigning to change our flag, but they seem to have given up.

Chig feels very strongly that the Union flag, the flags of the four UK nations and in fact all flags, including the Kernow flag of Cornwall, should be reclaimed by their people and waved proudly. If our flags come to be associated with the far right and extreme nationalism, then those people have won and we must fight to get them back. I don't like the fact that our flag is associated strongly with royalty and government; it belongs to all of us, so we should use it.

When I've been to Eurovision (yes, there's always a link), it makes me extremely proud to wave the Union flag, even when I've known that our song is rubbish, because the atmosphere is exactly as it should be; friendly and good-naturedly competitive. It's not war - it's fun. It's also great to see people waving the flags of other nations that they support, simply because they like the song. My British friend Joe had a massive Albanian flag at Eurovision 2004; the year of their first entry, for exactly tha reason. At Stockholm 2000, I found myself seated next to Swedish people, and for the three minutes that Roger Pontare was on stage, I felt Swedish, standing on my chair, waving the little Swedish flag (which had cleverly been left on all the chairs) like a mad thing. I have a feeling that this year I will be wearing or waving something Croatian to support my favourite song in the entire contest (especially as it doesn't seem to be very high on many other people's).

I've done my bit recently for exposing the Union flag to a wider international audience. If you have a recording of last month's Melodifestivalen final, watch the beginning of Linda Bengtzing's performance. You will see a Union flag swaying backwards and forwards over her right shoulder (ie. left of screen). That's me, that is!


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