Rebranding puts black marks against UK flag
The proposed new flag
Enlarge image
Britain's national flag - the union jack - has been given the makeover treatment, in the hope of reflecting a more modern society.
It's become the marketing executive's remedy for any organisation's ills. From BT to BP, the Labour Party to the Lottery, hardly a business or institution has escaped the rebranding bug.
Now moves are afoot to redesign that most sacred of British hallmarks - the union flag.
A campaign is being launched to modernise the red, white and blue flag by adding a touch of black to reflect multicultural Britain in the 21st Century.
The proposed new flag (see above) is the work of Nigel Turner, an enthusiastic fan of the UK's transformation into a multiracial society over the past 50 years.
If I flew the union jack from a flagpole in my garden, many people would see it as a racist statement
Nigel Turner
Mr Turner, who has called his campaign Reflag, believes his plan would reclaim the union jack from its negative associations, and silence that old skinhead chant: "There ain't no black in the union jack."
"If I flew the union jack from a flagpole in my garden, many people would see it as a racist statement," he says.
"I'm a glass half-full, rather than half-empty sort of person. It's time we made a positive statement about the progression of a multicultural and multiracial society."
400th anniversary
The union flag was first seen in 1606 and the version that we know today was drawn up by the College of Arms in 1801 to represent the Act of Union.
Black runner Denise Lewis proudly waves the union jack
Mr Turner, 46, who is white, hopes to spark a debate on the flag. He would like to see a new design replace the current union jack for the flag's 400th anniversary in 2006.
"The proposed design does not mean throwing out all that has gone before, and it is clearly recognisable as the flag of the UK without saying something new."
But as makeovers go, even a designer as thick-skinned as Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen would think twice about treading into such perilous territory.
The so-called "union black" has already raised the ire of the Scottish. Tuesday's Scotsman newspaper said Mr Turner had "missed the point".
"The United Kingdom is not a firm which changes its corporate branding each time the management alters. The flag is an enduring symbol of unity which transcends politics and absorbs cultural change."
UNION FLAG - A BRIEF HISTORY
Originally flown from masthead of ships
Flag combines crosses of St Patrick, St George and St Andrew (there's no separate representation of Wales)
No official directions exist for its use ashore
Source: Mrflag.com
MSP Phil Gallie told the Scottish Parliament: "The suggestion that our flag should be redesigned is ridiculous tokenism and would do nothing to stamp out racism."
So what does Mr Turner need to do to make his flag official? The answer is not black and white, says flags expert Charles Ashburner.
"There are no laws governing the union flag. Primarily, it's the monarch's flag, but it has come to represent the UK through common usage.
"So to make it official, he just has to make people believe it's the official flag. It will never take the place of the union flag of course, but it could became a sort of quasi-official flag if enough people flew it."
