Sir,

In a letter this month, Simon Salaras asked what is wrong with Anorthosis supporters flying the Greek flag. Well the answer is simple: it is not the flag of their country.

He talks about the Union Jack being used at football matches, presumably by the English, but the Union Jack is only the Jack when it is flown from the jack-staff of a warship, other than that the flag it is simply referred to as the Union flag.

The Union flag is made up of three countries’ colours from the red cross of England, the crosses of the Scottish and the Welsh, so unless all three teams are playing in the same match, there is no point in using this flag.

Having attended many international matches, I have only seen the flag of St. George used by the English and never the Union flag. Of course St. George, the patron saint England, was not English, had never been to England and never spoke English, but was a Turkish knight who so impressed the English when they fought against him that they took his red cross in a mark of respect.

So why do the Anorthosis supporters carry the Greek flag? I guess the story is much like my own country, Tanzania. In the early 60s, Tanzania gained its independence from the British only to invite the Chinese into the vacuum left by its Colonial masters.

Today Tanzania has learned to stand by itself as a country in its own right. When we stop being Greek Cypriots, South African Cypriots or any other nation’s Cypriots and put ourselves first and only as Cypriots, we will also be in the same position of being our own master.

Peter G Davis,
Droushia, Paphos.