Trevor Reynolds said:

" It is only very recently that I began to understand how much of an issue 
this would be to people from the USA (In fact after discussing an episode of 
the Simpsons in which Homer burns the Union Jack (the flag of  the United 
Kingdom) with some American friends)."

How totally appropriate for you to join the discussion, Trevor. Some of the 
professors I had lo' these many years ago pointed out that the Americans 
were at a loss as to what to pledge their allegiance when they no longer had 
a crown as the symbol of the united government. Therefore, the flag in the 
United States has taken the position of a secular icon with many layers of 
emotion entangled in its threads. One such banner, "the Star Spangled 
Banner" of the anthems fame, is enshrined in the National History Museum of 
the Smithsonian Institution after many hours of careful restoration.

For the British, perhaps the bomb (or was it a V-2?) that struck Buckingham 
Palace or perhaps the bombing of Parliament during World War II evoked 
similar heart-felt anguish.(I'm not sure members of the royal family, 
especially those younger than Elizabeth and Phillip, would engender the same 
anguish today.)

As you can see from this thread, for many Americans today, respect for any 
flag of a subdivision of the US other than the Stars and Stripes is 
tantamount to treason.

On the other hand, a guest speaker last fall at the Texas Institute of 
Letters when discussion the occupation of Iraq and its long term 
consequences pointed out to his audience that it is in the former 
Confederate states that one most commonly sees the Stars and Bars.

Mary Kirby
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