Union Jack to St George’s flag

[cockneyrebel]

In the 1966 final it was a sea of union jacks.

Why and when did it change to St. George’s flags?

[st albans]

Euro 96 I think

[Mad Max]

If indyref 2 goes the way of the splits does the Union Jack become obsolete?

[Nth Kent Eagle]

I had a merchant navy flag with cpfc on it in the late 70s.

[Baffled Bob 2]

Originally Posted by st albans

Euro 96 I think

I think so too.

[1905]

[Nth Kent Eagle]

Originally Posted by 1905

Yuk. I wouldn't even wish that on the bbs multiuser names. He's so revolting.

[pallet]

It was to get away from the whole stigma the union jack had re racism and also we are England not great britain, unlike in the Olympics

[Stellavista]

Originally Posted by pallet

It was to get away from the whole stigma the union jack had re racism and also we are England not great britain, unlike in the Olympics

Because there have never been any negative associations with the St.George Cross flag?

[RazorsEdge]

Originally Posted by 1905

Brilliant

[El Aguila]

I always thought the George cross was more associated with the NF - though obviously they tried to latch onto any flag going. Surely it was more about defining England separately to the UK?

[in-exile]

Doesn't really matter both will do!
I do prefer the Union flag.

[Golf Boy]

As long as they are flammable - none of those EU regulations.

[in-exile]

[CP Satellite]

It always was a feature of England matches, right through to the early 90s - the England kit from around 1974 to 1984 had plenty of red and blue trim to reflect that. You could ask why the England kit is usually white with dark blue shorts (or the all white in more recent times) instead of the national colours, the red shirts and white shorts are normally the 2nd choice kit.

Just a tradition, I guess. For many people, it has political or even religious symbolism, that make it less of an option than flag of St George, but for the majority of England fans, who after all come from all sorts of backgrounds and beliefs, it was just a popular flag and pretty eye catching too - but obviously hijacked over the years by groups with different agendas than just going on to cheer the England team!

[JHJ EAGLE]

Originally Posted by Nth Kent Eagle

Yuk. I wouldn't even wish that on the bbs multiuser names. He's so revolting.

He is, why?

[cockneyrebel]

Found it weird that England fans used to wave the Union Jack as that is the flag of Britain not England and must have been weird for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

[Wolfnipplechips]

Originally Posted by JHJ EAGLE

He is, why?

[FORZA SELHURST]

Originally Posted by cockneyrebel

In the 1966 final it was a sea of union jacks.

Why and when did it change to St. George’s flags?

When the england fans finally accepted they couldn't work out for sure which way round/up to display the union flag.

[Skin Up]

The NF and later the BNP used the UJ in their imagery but not the SG flag maybe because they wanted/needed support outside of England (especially NI). The SG flag only got associated with the far right after the EDL became a thing in 2006ish and that image probably won't last given how short lived and small the EDL ended up being.

It was 1996 when the change over happened and some reasons might be that we were playing Scotland in the tournament itself so the UJ might have been inappropriate. The Labour government in waiting had promised devolution referendums planting the seeds for the resurgence of Scottish nationalism (that worked out well for Labour!) maybe on some level England fans were feeling the distinction that was coming.

The main reason was aesthetics. Lad culture, Britpop, football was trendy and wearing a replica shirt or football themed polo shirt or merchandise or even what people called 'casual wear' back then no longer made you look like a thug or anorak as it had done pre mid 90s but actually kind of cool. The minimalist two colour design of the SG looked better on flags, t shirts, polo shirts, accessories than the gaudy UJ. The UJ colour design is most famed fashion wise by The Rolling Stones tongue logo. Where ever you go in the world you see that on hoodies, bags, jackets, t shirts ect.