A Kilt in the closing ceremony

[Tobus]

I'm not sure why you would think it would be contorversial, Madness are an English band, playing the final gig for the Olympics, they are well known for their clothing styles being a little unusual. The whole evening was focused on modern (ish) British music and it was one showing the fun side of a good get together.

I'm sure the intent was harmless, and hopefully no feathers were ruffled. I just think it may have been a risky choice for that particular venue, and I'm surprised the Olympic committee's regulators approved it. Not meaning to get political (simply pointing out history and the current state of affairs), but the Cross of St. George is not a recognized national flag for the Olympics. It's a distinctly religious flag with a lot of history. As pointed out earlier in the thread, it was used during the Crusades, and some of the nations where the Crusades took place were present at the Olympics. Reminders of the Crusades have been a political hot potato in the last few years.

I suspect that this is why he ended up wearing the Union Jack draped over it. I would almost wonder if perhaps the Olympic people made him do that, since the international crowd would be unlikely to know this band's propensity for unusual clothing styles, and might see it as a political statement.

Nonetheless, it looks like a nicely-made kilt and it's great to see one of the board advertisers have one of their products featured in the Olympics closing ceremony. That's quite an important bit of product placement!

[Paul Henry]

I'm sure the intent was harmless, and hopefully no feathers were ruffled. I just think it may have been a risky choice for that particular venue, and I'm surprised the Olympic committee's regulators approved it. Not meaning to get political (simply pointing out history and the current state of affairs), but the Cross of St. George is not a recognized national flag for the Olympics. It's a distinctly religious flag with a lot of history. As pointed out earlier in the thread, it was used during the Crusades, and some of the nations where the Crusades took place were present at the Olympics. Reminders of the Crusades have been a political hot potato in the last few years.

I suspect that this is why he ended up wearing the Union Jack draped over it. I would almost wonder if perhaps the Olympic people made him do that, since the international crowd would be unlikely to know this band's propensity for unusual clothing styles, and might see it as a political statement.

Nonetheless, it looks like a nicely-made kilt and it's great to see one of the board advertisers have one of their products featured in the Olympics closing ceremony. That's quite an important bit of product placement!

I think you might have missed the factthat the Cross of St George is the flag of England, and as the Olympics was held in London , it's not much a stretch that there might simply have been a few England supporters!
When I saw the kilt I thought it was a skilt kilt, and credit to them for being able to supply it, I wondered about the Union jack over it, and just presumed that someone thought that it would be more UK friendly, not because of any worries about the Crusades!

[Tobus]

I think you might have missed the factthat the Cross of St George is the flag of England, and as the Olympics was held in London , it's not much a stretch that there might simply have been a few England supporters!

No, I didn't miss that fact. I presume it's why he wore it in the first place. But that's why I mentioned that it's not the official national flag as recognized by the Olympics committee. They seem to be sticklers for rules (even when the rules don't make any sense). Granted, I don't know if their rules would preclude his wearing a flag that's representative of a political subset of one of the nations represented. But the fact that he draped a Union Jack over the kilt might be an indication that someone thought he should stick with the recognized national flags. Just a guess on my part!

[Zardoz]

I saw a later re-broadcast, but still missed the first couple acts, so I didn't see the fellow daring to be patriotic. I did see the pipe band though.
Other than that, musically I thought is was a little scattershot, less of a eclectic musical journey and more an eccentric mixtape. But good to see that Melanie 'Sporty' Chisholm is still the hottest of the Spice Girls!

[kilted scholar]

Tobus: Granted, I don't know if their rules would preclude his wearing a flag that's representative of a political subset of one of the nations represented.

England - as Scotland - is not "a political subset" of a nation but is a nation in its own right. The flag of the Cross of St George is well known the world over from supporters at football (soccer) matches in which England are involved and is frequently seen draped from the stands at World Cups and Euro championships even when England are not playing in the particular match. So it is part of the scenery at international sporting events.