Worldflagshop News

England fans have been ordered by police to take down St George’s flags on his  house so that it would not offend foreigners (courtesy of bleacherreport.com)

Flags are being taken down all over the country by stupid people.

A 79-year-old lady had flags cut down off of a lamppost outside her house by police, who left them in a bush for her to find. This was because the flags were a health and saftey issue.

How is a flag a health and saftey issue? It was meters above anyone’s head.

In Worksop, Nottinghamshire, police officers ordered a woman to remove her flags down from her balcony, after complaints from people from other countries.

Would the police order these foriegn people to remove flags from their country, or would they be scared of being called racist?

Another man, also from Worksop, was told by Lincoln police officers to remove flags from his car.

Im sorry, but how many cars have you seen with a flag on it? There are millions of car flags being sold, and they will be flying from cars during the World Cup. These officers were going too far and have no common sense.

However, Tony Baddams has covered every inch of his house in flags. It cost him £180 to get the 250 flags. Even the windows have been covered up by flags.

How can one person be not allowed to fly one flag, and another be allowed to fly 250?

Some 96 percent of the English public have said that flying the St George’s flag was not racist.

So why are so many flags being taken down in order not to offend people not from this country?

Even the new Conservative-LibDem coalition Government has told councils to show more “common sense” when dealing with flags supporting England, describing the flag as a “proud symbol of our identity.”

Just let us support our country.

If someone tells you to take down your England flag say…UP YOURS.

Equally if you still have to buy your England Flags/bunting, please visit www.worldflagshop.com.  Also St George Wasitcoats available in stock if you want to stand out in the crowd!!!!

(courtesy of Fifa.com)

It will not only be in the stadiums that South Africans will be showing their support for the World Cup and the national team, Bafana Bafana. Already South African drivers are displaying their patriotism, with the national flags proudly displayed on cars around the country.

Add to this the Football Friday campaign, which has seen South Africans don their national football jersey on the last working day of each week, turning the streets into a sea of green and gold, and it is easy to see that the country has united in celebration for the month long football feast.

Some fans have gone far beyond the call of duty though, with just a jersey and a flag not offering enough of an outlet for their passion. Ran Neu Ner, the CEO of the Creative Counsel group, has decided to brand his black Mercedes SLK 350 convertible sports car in the colours of the South African flag.

“I’m a soccer fanatic and a South Africa fanatic,” admits Ner. “I was just so excited by the idea of the World Cup coming here that I had to find a release, and do something radical. So I did this.”

It took only a day for Ner to turn his car into a giant flag, and although the vinyl stickers are not permanent this can be taken under consideration. “If Bafana Bafana win the World Cup this year, I’ll make it permanent.”

Ner, who is attending as many matches as humanly possible, is daring other South Africans to follow his lead.

“I challenge anyone to beat what I have done… I am excited about the support, but we can do more. I’ve been around the world watching football and I can tell you that our supporters are some of the best; we are alive and have a great spirit in the stands. We must show this to the world.”

For Ner the 2010 FIFA World Cup is something unique and should be embraced as such. “All the marketing tells us ‘The World Cup in South Africa is a once in a lifetime experience’, but it really is, never again will it come back here while we are alive. We need to get behind our people, our players and our country, to make this a World Cup to remember.”

The International Marketing Council (IMC), which is charged with promoting South Africa abroad, is pleased by the increase in national spirit.

“We have been calling on all South Africans to actively participate in campaigns like the Fly the Flag and Football Fridays,” said Miller Matola, CEO of the IMC. “We are thrilled with the response so far. South Africans are passionate about football and we anticipate support is likely to further increase the closer we get to kickoff.”

Matola sees the tournament as an opportunity to build a greater sense of ‘South Africaness’, one that will last long after the final whistle has been blown.

“With more and more South Africans flying the flag, wearing their football jerseys and proudly singing the national anthem, I have no doubt that the beautiful game will further build national pride and unity.”

Tumelo Mbalati, from Johannebsurg has recently invested in a South African car flag and wears his yellow Bafana Bafana jersey religiously. He feels that flying his flag and wearing his national colours is the most effective manner of demonstrating his patriotism and his support, for both his team and the tournament.

“I bought my South African car flag when my friends and I decided to attend Bafana Bafana’s friendly match against Namibia. On the spur of the moment, overcome by the excitement at the rare opportunity to watch the national team in action, we all went and purchased the flags,” said Mbalati.

“For me, flying my country’s flag everywhere I go and wearing the Bafana jersey is the least I can do to show that I’m backing my country, through the national team, to succeed at the World Cup.”

Brian Pale, who places great importance in wearing his national colours, shared the same enthusiasm. “I feel a sense of pride when I wear my Bafana jersey. I feel one with the team. I expect us to prove to all the sceptics that South Africa is more than capable of hosting an event as big as the World Cup.”

With South African football fever growing every day, some fans know how hard it can be to find a suitably sized Bafana Bafana jersey. “This is an indication of the eagerness shown by South Africans to own a piece of the World Cup and support Bafana Bafana,” said Pale.

Zobuzwe Ngobese, PR Manager at FIFA Partner adidas, confirmed that there has been great demand for the Bafana jersey at consumer level. “The orders that we have received from retailers have almost exceeded our expectations. But we had anticipated that with the launch of the Football Fridays and other campaigns the demand for merchandise would increase remarkably”.

Whether you are a supporter of South Africa, or any other participating World Cup Team, make www.worldflagshop.com your place to stop and shop.

With a huge selection of flags/banners and bunting, you will not be disappointed. Support your national team, and buy a flag… Stocks are limited so please hurry……………….

St Mary’s Primary School in Beetley, near Dereham, Norfolk was told by Breckland District Council that the flag required planning consent.

The specially-designed flag was funded by the Royal Marine Association in Norwich to mark the 65th anniversary of Victory in Europe.

Children from the school, which has 204 pupils aged from four to 11, had created a new school badge which was being used as the basis of the design.

Second World War veteran Len Bloomfield, 88, of Beetley, said he had wanted the school to have its own flag for years – and said many European schools proudly flew their own flags.

He said: “I have felt for some time that the school should fly both its own and the Union flag and I think it helps to give the children genuine pride in their school.”

Louise Bunning, a parent governor, said: “We have put such a lot of work into this project and we were keen to fly it to say that we are proud of St Mary’s school.”

However, Ralph Hedley, acting headmaster at the school, was unwilling to give way.

He said: “Breckland Council told us that we needed to get permission from the Flags Commission. We understand that because the flag has the school’s name on it it is deemed to be advertising.

“We have applied to the Flags Commission and called time and again but they haven’t got back to us. To be honest once the flag is made we’ll just fly it and if they ask us to take it down we’ll take it down.”

Last month a vicar was warned by council officials about flying a flag depicting Jesus outside his church because it was “religious advertising”.

Rev Mark Binney, the vicar of St Andrew’s Church in Hampton, Worcs, said he had been told he would need planning permission in future.

The flag was flown in the week preceding Easter Sunday. Wychavon council said it would consider allowing the flag to be flown in future if approached by the church.

A spokesman for Breckland District Council said: “Flags used for advertising and promotional purposes are controlled under Advertisement Regulations and would require consent from the council.

“Planning permission will be required if you intend to fly flags used for advertising, in all likelihood the flying of the school flag will be acceptable to the planning committee.”

A spokesman for Norfolk County Council said: “It seems there’s a commission for everything.” (article courtesy of telegraph.co.uk)