American flag burned...in England

Just been sent these photos of the American flag being set alight today at a protest in Liverpool, England.

The protest was against the American owners of the football/soccer club Liverpool FC, who are deeply unpopular with the fans after plunging the club millions of £'s into debt and sacking popular manager Rafa Benitez earlier today.

Now I know passions get pretty high when it comes to sport, especially with football in England, but anyone else think the burning of the American flag in such a protest is completely unacceptable? Especially so soon after Memorial Weekend? What do you think? Here are the photos:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/d9f9af9de7de.jpeg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5613a2c737c8.jpg[/atsimg]

Europeans are CRAZY about there soccer, can't mess with it.

I don't see the purpose in burning our flag though, especially over a sport, I find that offensive, all it accomplished was showing there stupidity.

[edit on 6/3/2010 by Uniceft17]

reply to post by Lurch

burning of the American flag in such a protest is completely unacceptable

I concur. I presume this soccer hooligan probably meant this brainless act as protest to the American owners. Little does he know his actions are going to hit a major chord with the U.S. imo (especially if this goes viral)...Dummy!

Seems as if the majority of them have their arms crossed or something of that nature, it seems the majority of them are saying "WTF?".

Yes, I get that just by looking at the picture.

The majority doesnt seem to approve.

The kid burning the flag, needs to be kicked in the nuts.

Thats all.

In the Usa the flag is seen with great reverence/respect , in the uk the flag is just a symbol, probably feel different if it was a english or uk flag but to be honest it is not seen in the same way as in the usa...

ps scousers couldnt wait to see benitez gone...

[edit on 3-6-2010 by gambon]

i wish someone to tell flag manufactures to start making flags out of flame retardent materials


flag burning especially ours is totally unacceptable.


people tout this is free speech but its not its hate speach.



i wonder what the brits would think that if i urinated then torched the union jack if they would have a problem with it.

Well there are American fans of LFC too, maybe there will be less now. I wouldnt read too much into the flag burning just a silly thing to do is all, of course the owners did make a mess of things for LFC, but hey at least they arent Newcastle fans and have to deal with Mike Ashley.

I'm a football (NOT soccer ) fan and funnily enough I am also a Liverpool FC fan and although I don't personally go for meaningless symbolic gestures like this I must point out that that's exactly what it is...a symbolic gesture.

I know you Americans value your flag greatly but I wouldn't take this personally at all.

It is a bunch of normal people who care MASSIVELY about the club they LOVE and are merely showing their disapproval at the American owners who have made it their mission to ruin the club.

Burn a flag.
Get into the papers.
Publicity for your cause.

That is all.

OK... allow me to, as an Englishman, be the first to apologise...

We are totally football (soccer) crazy as a nation, myself included, but this is a disgusting thing to do and has been carried out by people with very low IQ and zero respect.

There is no excuse for this, but it is more of a reflection on this small group of thugs then it is on Britain as a whole.

In fact... these people are so dumb I’m surprised they got the right flag.



Seriously though... Sorry about this... it is very shameful and the kind of thing most English people do not want to see!

Personally... I’m just looking forward to the World cup and especially the first game (England Vs USA)

I'm sure it will be a great game and i would like to USA do well in this tournament... although hopefully not at the expense of England

May the best team win

Originally posted by neo96



i wonder what the brits would think that if i urinated then torched the union jack if they would have a problem with it.

I believe it would probably depend on who did it , most wouldnt give a damn its not a battle standard....

and its called the union flag.....it is a jack only on the forestaff of a ship...

writing on flags is also a tradition here , not one i have seen in the states , is this seenas direspectfull as well?


[edit on 3-6-2010 by gambon]

[edit on 3-6-2010 by gambon]

reply to post by gambon


What would be the UK battle standard if there is one, or do they just use thier Brigade and Regimental flags?

Wowzers! I'm a liverpool FC fan, and I must say this doesn't sit well with me. All my Liverpool FC buddies are really decent people, but then again, we're from South Africa and Canada, so maybe those in the UK take it way more seriously and a bit too far

[edit on 3-6-2010 by TortoiseKweek]

reply to post by Common Good


Good Eye! i went back and looked again after i read what you posted and came to the same conclusion,the majority of that crowd did not look "comfortable" or "supportive" of what they were watching unfold.

Basically sums up how i feel about flag burning, people need to get a grip and stop getting so worked up about something so insignificant.

reply to post by DarkStormCrow



it is regimental battle honours were traditionally taken inro battle in a locked chest , untill fairly
recently this was the case , nowadays they do not go into the field ..

www.google.co.uk...://www.wfrmuseum.org.uk/Images/Regtl%2520Colours.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.wfrmuseum.org.uk/battle_honours.ht m&usg=__CW26OroRx7zB3zI49wAoacfCsP0=&h=1072&w=1497&sz=255&hl=en&start=1&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=2Us4-A5YkQ5_5M:&tbnh=107&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbritish %2Bregimental%2Bbattle%2Bhonours%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3Dglg%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-GBfficial%26channel%3Ds%26tbs%3D isch:1


huge link sorry

SOLOMONS ..sums it up well tbh ...


[edit on 3-6-2010 by gambon]

[edit on 3-6-2010 by gambon]

reply to post by neo96


Then i'll apologise on our behalf though i think it's aimed at Hicks and Gillet who have saddled the club with about a £350 million debt since they took over in 07.Personally i don't care if people burn my flag. It's quite a regular spectacle in the middle east where they have US UK and Israel flag burning sessions regularly.Burning flags is free speech this new buzz word ''hate speech'' is being applied to anything remotely critical.

reply to post by gambon


Most American units have the same above the regimental level also, they are basically streamers that attach to the flag, usually only seen at the headquarters and not in the fiels these days also. Early units sometimes sewed honors into the actually flag, most prominently during the War Between the States.



[edit on 6/3/2010 by DarkStormCrow]

reply to post by Solomons


Well at the end of the day, If something is done that offends millions of people, regardless of if you personally do not feel its a big deal, it is not a good thing...

So it’s only polite to not do the things that will hurt them... to do otherwise is rude, selfish and un-polite... and in my opinion... its un-English!

I hope Americans see it for what it is, one lone idiot burning a flag. he acted on his own, I really hope they don't look into it any deeper than that.

We have alot of idiots here in the UK, they don't speak for anyone else but themselves.

I think it wont just be LFC but many of the other big spending clubs that will be soon looking at a reality check in the high salary department, and that is from the Premiere League down to the small clubs, not a whole lot of money at there and many clubs will be more frugal.