I don’t suppose the mix up over the North and South Korea flags on Wednesday evening  was the kind of start to the Games the Olympic organisers were looking for.  To place an image of the wrong country’s flag next to a sportsman’s image is embarrassing at best but to place an image of the flag of that sportsman’s country’s bitter enemy next to his or her face is unforgiveable. To put it in a context closer to home can you imagine the outrage that would emanate from the placing of the Union flag next to the image of a sportsman from the Irish Republic?

Still, we shouldn’t be surprised because, according to the results of a survey commissioned by the Panasonic corporation released last week, the Japanese flag is more recognizable to most British people than their own flag (that’s astounding if it’s true). In addition the survey of 2,000 adults (adults mind you, not infants!) discovered the following gems –

– 1 in 12 thought the Union flag (Union Jack) was the flag of England.
– 1 in 10 thought the St George’s flag was the flag of Wales.
– 1 in 3 thought the Australian flag was the flag of the USA.

Lord help us; to think we once had an empire! Can we really be that stupid? (I ask this rhetorically!)

A spokesman for Panasonic  said –  “With the influx of flags set to come into the UK for the Olympic Games I’m sure fans will enjoy the opportunity to learn them all”.  Presumably he was also referring to the Olympic organisers! The only saving grace was that the Korean cock-up happened before an Olympic football match in Edinburgh and not London. Perhaps it was an attempt by jealous Scottish Nationalists to sabotage the Games!

On a serious note, the Olympic Games officially open tonight and, as with the recent Jubilee celebrations, I’m sure we can all, bar the usual whingeing curmudgeons of course, take great pride in another marvellous showcase for our country. Thousands of people, most of them volunteers, have devoted huge swathes of their time and effort into creating these Games and they deserve our profound gratitude. I don’t doubt that the Games will be a great success and a further source of pride for the whole of our country.