Hawes & Curtis support Team GB with a wrong ‘Union Flag’ tie

Well it’s the eve of the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony, the Olympic Flame has been to Buckingham Palace, arriving in the hands of Jon Sayer, a volunteer with The Scout Association, and now I get an email from Hawes & Curtis suggesting that I can wear some of their products to support Team GB.

Now, as you can probably guess, I am not overly happy at the name ‘Team GB’ as it is – I think it ought to be Team UK. But it is not. But it seems that Hawes & Curtis whilst having created quite a range of Union Flag inspired products has managed to get it completely wrong with regard to one item. Unfortunately it is the item that I was most likely to have used. A tie.

HawesCurtisTie — “Men’s Navy & Red Union Jack 100% Silk Tie.” Last time I checked the St Patrick’s cross was red not navy.

As you can see, the red of the cross of St George is present for England, the white of cross of St Andrew is present for Scotland, but sadly us in Ireland have to make do with blue instead of the red of the cross of St Patrick. This seems rather unfortunate.

I have just sent an email to Hawes & Curtis Customer Service

Dear Sir,I refer to the tie available as part of your ‘Support Team GB’ range, which can be found on the following website. http://www.hawesandcurtis.com/mens-accessories–ref_TIDSH021-G16

This was the one item that I was most likely to want to buy, however the design is not that of the Union Flag. I don’t know how it has happened, but the diagonal cross of St Patrick has appeared to be blue on the tie instead of the red as seen in all the other products you have – and indeed on the Union Flag itself.

As an Irishman who is proud to be British, this really annoys me. The St Patrick’s cross in the Union Flag represents Ireland, and we are very sure that the cross is Red on White.

I would be grateful if you could explain why this tie is in this design and not a true Union Flag.

Yours sincerely,

Michael Carchrie Campbell

For those who don’t know the make up of the Union Flag, please see the diagram below…