We all make mistakes, the fallibility of man and all that jazz. It is those with the mindset who use mistakes as an opportunity to improve and ideally prevent recurrence who seem to achieve more.
Last week the Nation Newspaper reported that the Barbados Yacht Club (BYC) was disrespecting the Barbados flag by having its flag displayed above the National Flag. The BYC to its credit reacted quickly to the criticism and withdrew all other flags flying with the exception of the Barbados flag, see picture above. It was reported the BYC checked with Lieutenant Colonel Sean Reece of Barbados Coast Guard who confirmed that the Club had been correctly flying the flags.
Here is how the Lieutenant explained it:
No other flag should be flown above ours if you have several single flags flowing from different flagpoles, but if you have a flag pole that is in the form of what was originally the mast of an old sailing ship, one where the diagonal pole sticks out from the vertical pole, then the position of honour on that flag pole (called the gaff) is where the Barbados Flag should be and where it was placed. So in essence they do have it in the correct position – Nation Newspaper 25 February 2011
The obvious question is why the Nation editor would not have afforded the BYC the opportunity to comment before going to press? In fact the correct protocol could have been easily researched on the Internet. The irony to some is that the national flag is often flown incorrectly on the Nation Newspaper complex at Fontebelle.
A case when a gaffe revealed that the gaff was indeed not a gaffe.
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