FLAGS: Don't Fly Them!

    

   I thought I might begin with a softer title rather than the one above and considered, “Let’s Fly the White Flag of Surrender,” but even the colour ‘white’ is controversial these days. There has been both a lot of flaunting and flouting about flags and enough red flags have been raised to let us know that flags now symbolise mainly disunity. They are currently used as a way for signalling values, the way semaphore was developed  for sending messages, but the values being transmitted often differ and are not well received by some who see them. The flag poles have become performative poles and, like statues, flags should be removed. 

   As an admirer of “free speech” (another divisive subject) I will add that I am only calling for their elimination in displays by government entities. As a private citizen you should be able to  fly whatever flag you wish, at your own risk, or if your condo manager permits it,  and you should  even be able to desecrate the flags of others as the Canadian Charter allows. Too much time and effort is devoted to the issue of flag flying and most of the efforts expended by even the most well-meaning and righteous are counterproductive. 

Vexillography is Vexatious

   While there are arguments over flags here in Ontario, proof about the energy spent on flags (not to mention false ones) is found in this article: “This is Utah’s New Flag - and Here’s Why More States are Mulling Designs,” (Washington Post, March 25, 2023), which is where I learned the word, “vexillography” and its variants. There are a lot of vexillologists who care deeply about flags for aesthetic reasons and there are many citizens who do so for political ones. The Utah flag was selected by a committee from 7000 choices and not everyone was happy with the final one. A compromise was made to allow the old flag to be flown over the new one in the Capital and on holidays and still there is a referendum to overturn the new flag law. 

   The legislators in many other states are spending hours debating the designs for new flags for both artistic and ideological  reasons. People, images, colours, etc. now are being removed or changed to make room for ones more acceptable. This is a global phenomena as this headline indicates: “New Zealand Spent $17 Million on a Failed Flag Referendum. Now It Wants Australia to Change Its Flag Instead.” Note the word - “FAILED.”

   Here in Ontario, one community has been shamed because their solution to fly only government flags was unacceptable to some who want to fly their own. Although that does not seem to be an unreasonable arrangement, perhaps it is better just to eliminate them all. Even the government flags are likely to be attacked at some point, just as the statues were. (As this is being written,  other symbolic artefacts are being altered: religious imagery is being removed from the Canadian Crown and replaced with fleur-de-lis for maple leafs and a snowflake; and whether the King’s likeness will be on our bills or the Fathers of Confederation on our passports is being considered.)

   While the number of ardent vexillologists may not increase, the diverse number of people wanting to display their own flags certainly will. To consider just one ‘category’, here are some of the other flags now related to the Pride one, the displaying of which, caused the dispute here in Ontario: PRIDE FLAG - GENDERQUEER FLAG -  GENDERFLUID FLAG -  PROGRESS PRIDE FLAG - LESBIAN PRIDE FLAG - TRANSGENDER PRIDE FLAG - BISEXUAL PRIDE FLAG - PANSEXUAL PRIDE FLAG - INTERSEX PRIDE FLAG. If you don’t believe me, or want to bone up on flag lore before a PRIDE MONTH, see: “”What Do the Colors of the Rainbow Flag Mean? A History of How the Flag Came to Be,” Olivia Munson, USA Today, April 28, 2023 or, “Diverse Gender Identity Flags: Learn the Genderqueer, Nonbinary, Gender Fluid Pride Flags," Clare Mulroy, USA Today, April 28, 2023.

      Patriotism is now mostly personal and civic pride has been replaced by the heraldry of DEI, which seems to have served only to increase divisiveness and exclusion. 

Sources:
   Apart from those provided, there will be one. A search about "flags" generally yields results that relate to controversies over them. I will provide a rather benign example which simply shows how long flag arguments have been raised.

Lepidoptera in London

 

    It is a rainy day so I will attempt to catch up on my blogging. If the weather continues to be dreary you might consider a trip up to the campus at Western where you will find at the McIntosh Gallery the exhibit "Insect as Idea." It is on until June 18th and the Gallery is open from 10 til 5 from Monday to Friday and from 12 to 4 on Saturday. 

   It was on a Saturday that I visited and I was the only visitor at the time. The campus is especially pleasant at this time of year and you will also find it so, as long as you avoid the convocation ceremonies.

   That is a picture taken by me at the top and the text below is part of a description found on the wall.

To get an impression of the exhibit, you are better off looking at the sources provided next:

"McIntosh Exhibit Buzzes With Colourful Fusion of Art, Science: Insect Specimens From Western’s Zoological Collections Converge With Contemporary Art in Nod to Beauty in Biodiversity," Keri Ferguson, May 5, 2022.

The CBC provides this: "The Beauty of Bugs and Biodiversity on Display at Western's McIntosh Gallery: Insect as Idea Exhibit is Blending Art and Science to Showcase Insects Under Threat," CBC, Michelle Booth, May 22, 2022.

Insect as Idea: Carl Beam, Christi Belcourt, Catherine Chalmers, Andrea Cooper, Aganetha and Richard Dyck, Jude Griebel, The Institute of Queer Ecology, Jennifer Murphy and Amy Youngs:Featuring insect specimens from the Zoological Collections, Department of Biology, Western University

  You may have noticed in the CBC piece that "insects are under threat." That is true and a serious problem. For more see these three posts: "Insect Elegy;" "Insect Apocalypse" and the bottom portion of "Birds and Bugs."

The Bonus:

   The McIntosh Gallery used to have in its collection, "Backwoods of America" by Jasper Cropsey, the sale of which was rather controversial. See: Jasper Cropsey. 

    If you are an older alumni you will see some changes on campus and not just those related to the buildings. You may have noticed above, for example, The Institute of Queer Ecology.  I happened also to find this mysterious (to me) lengthy initialism mentioned on the Western website and will explain it for those who are as ancient as I. Apparently Mental Health Support is available to all, including those who are: LGBTTIQQ2SA+. I assume the + means there are more to come. 
    To translate: LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, TRANSSEXUAL, INTERSEX, QUEER, QUESTIONING, 2-SPRITED, ASEXUAL. And to translate further - "2 Spirit"  "a term used within some Indigenous communities, encompassing cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender identity. The term reflects complex Indigenous understandings of gender roles, spirituality, and the long history of sexual and gender diversity in Indigenous cultures."

  I am not sure what this means in terms of bathroom facilities. There used to be rooms for "Males" and "Females" and I do know there was some controversy about bathrooms specifically for "Faculty." I think they have all now disappeared.  I didn't have to go, so I can't help you. In the old days, this could have been an example:

Now here are some suggestions you might find on the bathroom doors:

Or: 

On Golf Balls

   It is snowing here today and golf will not be played for a while. The subject can be broached, however, and I will begin broaching by considering the colour of golf balls. As well, for those readers who prefer the serious over the frivolous, I will make the subject more timely by also mentioning gender, which one is required to do these days.

   Men prefer white balls. I haven’t done any research on the subject, but it is likely that even Black men do as well and I am sure Harold Varner III does, but you would expect him to do so because of the III. Even with the III and a name like “Harold”, he probably would not have been allowed into most country clubs a while back and in those days it is also likely that even a white club member would have  been blackballed if he chose to use a ball that was not white. But, this is about gender, not race, so consider this quote: “Female golfers have long accepted balls in a variety of hues.” 

   That quotation comes from an authoritative source: The Wall Street Journal. It is even more authoritative in this instance, given that most readers of it, and likely the writer of the article, are golfers and, more importantly, members of country clubs. Just as they know more about hedge funds, they are more likely to have accumulated wisdom related to poa annua grass and know that it should not be allowed at their clubs.

   Statistical evidence is provided by the WSJ: "At Whispering Pines Golf Club north of Houston, the pro shop tells me that less than 10% of men purchase colored balls, while nearly 60% of women do." That proves, among other things, that women are smarter than men, since colour, unlike, say compression, has no effect on ball performance and the brightly coloured ones are easier to find in the deep grass, or for that matter in the deep snow outside today. 

   Even tennis players are smarter than male golfers and the International Tennis Federation, more liberal than the PGA, since they made yellow balls the official ones back in 1972. Wimbledon went yellow much later, in 1986, but it is greener over there. 

    I should mention that Bubba Watson is also smarter than most other male golfers since he used a pink golf ball at the Masters a few years ago. I am surprised that they allowed him to do so, but by then I think they had also agreed to allow Condoleezza Rice to become a member. 

Sources:

“Gender Gap on the Golf Course,” Peter Funt, WSJ, April 15, 2021.

If you are heading out to Golf Town, are male and feel sufficiently masculine, here is a guide that will be useful: “10 Best High Visibility Golf Balls in 2022,” by Carroll Ball. Kansas Golf.

Post Script:

Readers who are attentive and who read my post about Aptronyms, will appreciate the name of the author of the article above: Carroll Ball.

The Bonus: 
Srixon is introducing a two-toned one.