union flag diagram

[Mike_Oettle]

There are probably flag gaffes made regarding the ensigns of most nations.
In South Africa in the 1980s, the Union Jack was used to make political points. A series made about subversion during the Second World War (widely supported among Afrikaner nationalists) showed an army camp (quite definitely South African) sporting a Union Jack and no South African flag.
While in law the SA flag had equal status with the UK flag, and in some places the two were hoisted side by side, in South African military installations it was always the SA flag, or a military ensign derived from it, that was flown.
At flying schools erected under the British Joint Training Scheme, the South African Air Force ensign and the RAF ensign flew side by side – because the personnel were both South African and British, not because of any undue British influence.
The producer of the TV series was trying to prove that in the 1939-45 conflict, South Africa was under the British jackboot. The contrary is true. South Africa voluntarily joined in the war effort. But had Prime Minister J B M Hertzog won the parliamentary division in 1939 (instead Jan Smuts won it and became Prime Minister), South Africa would have been under the Nazi jackboot to a greater or lesser extent.
Regards,
Mike