At a young age I was given 20 volumes of cartoons from Punch magazine dating from the 1920s and 30s. Nearly all were unfunny, but among the few exceptions was one about the perils facing politicians who engage in patriotic flag waving which strikes me as highly relevant today.

The cartoon shows a political meeting, most likely of the Tory party since there is a huge Union Jack on the wall behind the speaker on the platform. He is evidently doing a question-and-answer session with the audience, which, so far as I can recall, runs as follows:

Voice from audience: “Can the speaker explain why the Union Jack behind him is upside down?”

Speaker, glancing round: “I can only suppose that the person who placed it there was shamefully ignorant of the correct position of our national flag.”

Vo

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