The Union Jack and the Royal Wedding

Here in the UK, the Union Jack is rarely flown by individuals. The flag is made up of the St George's cross, the St Andrew's cross and the St Patrick's cross. It is a flag usually only flown on days of national importance such as Remembrance Sunday and Commonwealth day and also for public birthdays.

What is more far more common is for people to fly their individual country's flags of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A lot of people are at their most patriotic during times of international football matches. When England is playing another country, the flag of St George, a red cross on a white background can be seen everywhere from hanging out of bedroom windows to adorning the backs of cars. As much as I like to see the St George's flag flying, it has sadly got some poor connotations. The behaviour of some England football fans, particularly when they abroad, has tainted the flag somewhat. The St George's flag is linked with yobbishness, drunkenness and bad tattoos.

Instead of England flags though , it was the first time I have ever seen Union Jacks and Union Jack bunting being flown from the houses here in the little Essex village of Hatfield Broad Oak. When I walked down the high street on my way to the Royal Wedding celebratory picnic on Friday, Union jacks adorned the sides of the street, cars, homes and the two village pubs. It was like a miniature version of the street scenes shown on the television on the morning of the wedding.

When I arrived at the village picnic mini Union Jack flags were handed out to all of the villagers who waved them with gusto, proud to be British. At the cake stall, each cupcake was decorated with tiny flags or iced in red, white and blue. Picnickers sported Union Jack t-shirts

The Royal Wedding has been a very positive event for the United Kingdom and it was wonderful to see that the country's flag is not sectarian, but brings people together. It was completely new to me to see the country's flag being waved not in connection with a sporting event, but in a celebration of being one nation.