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Whilst reading Wikpedia on Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, my attention was caught by the picture.


That reminded me of a Row over altered US Army photo involving the highest ranking US female military officer.


Is this arrangement of a portrait photograph, with the background dominated by a flag, an American invention recently exported to the rest of the world? Or this there substantial UK precedent? I vaguely recall oil paintings of heroic generals, standing in a battlefield scene, with a large flag flying nearby. But this format is not at the scene of victory: rather it is indoors, deliberately posed, and dominated by a pristinely clean flag.

(Separate question: why is the Admiral posed in front of an army flag?)

your BBC link wrote:When the digital alteration was discovered, AP immediately withdrew the photo and began an investigation.

That shouldn't have taken very long, I've never seen such an amateuristic piece of photoshopping.

Which flag behind the admiral is the army flag? I would have said that the two flags were the Union flag and the NATO flag, neither of which I would have classified as army flags - but you probably have a hidden little gem from the creation of the Union flag which makes it an army flag.

Over to you...

AHB wrote:you probably have a hidden little gem from the creation of the Union flag which makes it an army flag

Army flag 5:3; real Union Jack is 2:1.

Wikipedia wrote:Although the most common ratio is 1:2, other ratios exist. The Royal Navy's flag code book, BR20 Flags of All Nations, states that both 1:2 and 3:5 versions are official.[43] The 3:5 version is most commonly used by the British Army and is sometimes known as the War flag. In this version the innermost points of the lower left and upper right diagonals of the St Patrick's cross are cut off or truncated.

3:5 variant or War flag.

Has anybody seen The Big Bang Theory?

I know which character I think I am but can't quite make my mind up for jdaw1.

Yes, we watch it every week! It is one of our favorite shows.

JDAW isn't on the show. He is married. Q.E.D.

A former me could be on the show, but the current me is no longer geeky enough to qualify. I'm also married.

jdaw1 wrote:

AHB wrote:you probably have a hidden little gem from the creation of the Union flag which makes it an army flag

Army flag 5:3; real Union Jack is 2:1.

Wikipedia wrote:Although the most common ratio is 1:2, other ratios exist. The Royal Navy's flag code book, BR20 Flags of All Nations, states that both 1:2 and 3:5 versions are official.[43] The 3:5 version is most commonly used by the British Army and is sometimes known as the War flag. In this version the innermost points of the lower left and upper right diagonals of the St Patrick's cross are cut off or truncated.

3:5 variant or War flag.

A number of points arise, the most important of which is that the Union Jack is a naval flag; the red, white and blue flag behind Admiral Thingy is almost certainly a Union Flag and not a Union Jack. This is one of those occasions when Wiki is wrong and I will need to go back to some of my history books for a citation.

The second point is how the heck can you tell from the picture that we are seeing a 5:3 ratio flag? I can't see whether the inner corners of the Patrick's cross are cut off or not.

AHB wrote:The second point is how the heck can you tell from the picture that we are seeing a 5:3 ratio flag? I can't see whether the inner corners of the Patrick's cross are cut off or not.

I have attached a small 2×1 flag with the obvious difference circled.

Well spotted

It's Sheldon. Just in case anybody was wondering.

KillerB wrote:It's Sheldon. Just in case anybody was wondering.

I thought it was Sheldoff.

Or is that only funny when you've drunk enough port?