Why we'll keep flying the flag - Peter Rhodes

Clive Cheeseman who rejoices in the title of Richmond Herald at the College of Arms, says it would be "difficult to plough on" with the Union Jack if Scotland became independent, because the blue segments of the flag are taken from the Scottish flag.

Well, so what? Ireland pulled out of the United Kingdom nearly 100 years ago and yet the Union Jack still includes the diagonal red cross of St Patrick.

What is more, the Union Jack (or Union Flag, for you pedants) has been around the world for so long that its future is not solely a British issue. It appears in the flags of several Canadian provinces, in the city arms of two United States cities and the Chilean city of Coquimbo and on the state flag of Hawaii.

They are hardly going to amend their flags to reflect Scottish independence and it would be plain daft for the Union Jack to be seen flying from Hawaii to Newfoundland, but not in England.

Whatever the Scots, Irish or Welsh do, England will keep the Union Jack - because we invented it and it's our flag.