BRITISH NATIONAL SYMBOLS
(Scott, 2000)
Every nation needs a main sign to represent it. The national flag is for this reason not only a piece
of cloth fluttering in the wind, it is a sign of self-expression, and a claim of sovereignty or the
wish to attain sovereignty. Flags, generally overlooked in the nation formation process, are also
essential symbols to rally around.
National anthems, much like flags, symbolise the nation and its collective self-celebration and
unisonance. National days are occasions when national symbols are activated. They are the
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repeated annual occasions when the nation remembers its founding myth or celebrates its
symbolic birthday.
1.3 The Use of Flags throughout History
There are `old', `modern' and `new' national symbols (flags) because nations vary in `age', in
terms of continuity and independence.
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