Gets me right there

I'm not a particularly patriotic chap. I like England to win at the rugby (best not mention yesterday), I think it's great that Charles Darwin was one of ours, and, as far as I'm concerned, I live on the most beautiful island on the planet. But I also happen to think that the union flag is pretty damn tacky, I couldn't give a flying toss about how crap our overpaid soccer team is doing yet again, and I cringe with embarrassment every time I hear the opening chords of the national anthem—it's the Twenty-First Century, for Christ's sake!

My mate Fitz rightly points out that it would be ridiculous for me to feel proud of being English/British. I didn't have any say in the matter; I just happened to be born where I was. I also happen to have been born with two legs, but I don't feel particularly proud of them. Actually, that's a bad example, as I have a particularly fine pair of legs, but you catch my general drift.

But every now and again, I come across something which gets me right there. Something which tugs at my latent patriotic heart-strings. Something which makes me cry out, "YES, THAT IS US! WE ARE BRITISH. WE ARE BETTER THAN YOU, AND I AM PROUD OF IT!"

Something like this:

Portrait of a young woman dressed as Boadecia or Mother England
Portrait of a young woman dressed as Boadecia or Mother England.

WE ARE BRITISH! HEAR US ROAR!

Richard Carter

A fat, bearded chap with a Charles Darwin fixation.

6 comments

  1. Too many English people are embarrsed about being patriotic - it's good to be proud, at least some of the time! Shame about the rugby 🙁

  2. "Too many English people are embarrsed about being patriotic"

    The way a lot of English people behave when abroad it's no surprise.

  3. What's not mentioned is that when they were introduced these uniforms weren't popular with the Marks & Spencer staff.

  4. Prince Charles must hate the second line of the National Anthem:"Long live our gracious Queen."

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