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British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

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    British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

    Some of you might know that there is a speedway team in the UK that uses the nickname Rebels and uses the Confederate battle flag as their logo/mascot.
    There are rumblings of discontent - from a few speedway followers who wish that Somerset drop the flag etc. - but the overwhelming response in this speedway thread is that the flag doesn't mean what you think it does. The flag should stay.

    And seemingly a few are really missing not being able to use the swastika any more.

    I have been tweeting at the club, and speedway fans in general about the flag issue - and the club has failed to respond and British speedway fans send me direct messages telling me to fck off.

    Speedway fans.... I am embarrassed to be one sometimes.

    http://www.speedway-forum.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=79637

    #2
    British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

    I realised very early on that the BSF forum was a depressing and pointless endeavour that can only foster negativity, shame and embarrassment towards the sport so have never gone back. That's one of the reasons I was so keen to have a thread here.

    I've discussed the Rebels use of the flag with some other fans in the past and Bored from here as its his local team. I think in the past it's connotations could have been ignored but that's much more difficult now, post-Charleston. I'm sure it wouldn't harm the club to drop it in favour of something more suitable.

    Then we get to the Streatham Redskins ice hockey side.

    .

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      #3
      British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

      I've never liked the confederate flag and all the connotations it represents.

      As a fan of Primal Scream I have never bought the 'Give out...' album for that reason and I'd be perfectly happy if Somerset were to keep the name but drop the emblem myself. If we take some of the crap on that thread to a logical conclusion, of the we're British not American variety, then those buffoons have given a reason to drop it right there, probably without even realising it.

      Get rid because it's a shit logo with a nasty history.

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        #4
        British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

        On team logo tip, I know the Plymouth Devil, with his thumb up to his nose, has been in existence unchanged since 1947, but do other clubs have a similarly lengthy history with their badges. For example, the Ipswich witch looks like a very recent piece of design.

        And the reason this is pertinent is that Somerset have only been around 15 years, just get it changed.

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          #5
          British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

          Harry Truscott wrote:
          Then we get to the Streatham Redskins ice hockey side.

          .
          That's a particularly odd one. I thought they'd always been called that (they're a very old team) but turns out they adopted it in 1974.

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            #6
            British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

            Wonder if the Cork fans will decide not to bring one to Killarney on Sunday.

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              #7
              British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

              AS Harry alludes, Somerset Rebels are my 'local' team and, aside from sheer laziness, the flag has been a bit of a fly in the ointment for me really getting behind them. When this issue was resurrected due to the recent tragedy, I wondered if the Rebels would be challenged with the wider publicity the 'soft swastika' is getting. After all, it is harder to blame ignorance presently.

              It doesn't surprise me that the BSF, like many sports forums, is conservative with a small and possibly large 'c'. At the end of the day, unlike football, I don't care enough about speedway to be bothered sharing a stadium with such narrowminded people but would visit the Rebels if Harry or any other of my speedway mates were going. If, however, the Rebels were to make a stand and drop the flag as a logo for moral reason, I would be more inclined to give them my support.

              As an aside, the Dukes of Hazzard General Lee never bothered me and I find it hard to get pissed off about it now so I may be a hypocrite.

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                #8
                British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                Of course, someone could point out that they could look at Somerset history and adopt the flag of the Duke of Monmouth's rebels in the Pitchfork Rebellion.

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                  #9
                  British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                  That would convey a rather different message

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                    #10
                    British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                    Ha, that isn't the flag from the Pitchfork Rebellion but the message is the same. However, my point that that is more relevant to Somerset's rebellious history still stands.

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                      #11
                      British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                      Let's be honest, Somerset are the most transient fan base going.

                      It is just ex Bristol and Exeter supporters convinced this is just a stop gap before each of their city councils delivers a million pound speedway track for them.

                      The racial derivitives of their flag are vague considerations to what lap times Ivan Mauger or Vic Duggan might get at 'Okey Dokey'.

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                        #12
                        British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                        Rogin has just told me via FB that the General Lee that Bubba Watson is covering the confederate flag with is the original one (or, at least, one of the originals). I am not sure I fully agree with this.

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                          #13
                          British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                          So they've started a local advertising campaign, that some people think looks like the rider is escaping a burning cross...

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                            #14
                            British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                            Is anyone actually challenging them about this? They must be the last organisation using it outside of the KKK and, the difference is, they have no reason to stick with it. I was thinking of emailing the Weston Super Mare Chronicle or posting on the Facebook page but I have enough fronts to fight at the moment.

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                              #15
                              British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                              As I have been reminded of this, I am taking up the cause of this again. To be fair to the club, the Charleston shooting happened in the middle of the season so it would be hard for them to drop the flag (albeit they never should have taken it up or, at least, dumped it ages ago). However, they don't start their new season until March so pressure could be brought to bear now. I am going to email them, then the local paper if I get no reply and then get a petition going if this doesn't work. There is no point in persuading speedway supporters so the issue has to be publicised wider.

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                                #16
                                British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                Success! Nice statement from the club, too.

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                                  #17
                                  British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                  Bloody hell! Well done them. Is Bored claiming credit?

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                                    #18
                                    British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                    From:
                                    To: info
                                    Sent: Wed, 23 Dec 2015 13:25
                                    Subject: Confederate Flag.

                                    Hello,

                                    I am writing to ask that you remove the Confederate Flag from your team's publicity, website, merchandise and uniforms. As you may know, it is a symbol of segregation and prejudice and has been treated as such for decades in the United States. Since the Charleston church shooting this year, many government and states as well as retailers have removed their confederate flags. These organisations have a much more historical and relevant link to the flag than the Rebels who have only used it for 15 years. I appreciate that the Charleston incident was right in the middle of your season so it would be difficult to change the badge then but, with the new season being 3 months away, there is plenty of time to change it.

                                    If the Rebels were to do this voluntarily, I think that the attendant publicity and good will shown towards them would be very positive and beneficial. Certainly, I would be more inclined to invite others to meetings. There are, I know, people who are regular speedway attendees and others who show an interest that would not visit the Oak Tree while the confederate flag is displayed. There is no downside to changing the badge as there are not any arguments about a link from a Southern American heritage to a speedway team in the United Kingdom. To be constructive, can I suggest that a badge that links to the Pitchfork Rebellion which took place only 10 miles away from the club would be more appropriate and less offensive?

                                    I look forward to hearing from you

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                                      #19
                                      British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                      Is that a "yes"?

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                                        #20
                                        British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                        Was it that obvious?

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                                          #21
                                          British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                          Well done you. That's a superb bit of campaigning and what a result.

                                          They should have been using the Somerset wyvern all along.

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                                            #22
                                            British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                            Did they acknowledge your mail, Bored.

                                            Part of me thinks they must have had this planned for a while and it takes longer than four weeks over Xmas/NY to get a logo changed and prepare publicity but part of me thinks "This is speedway, anything is possible" and we all know it's a cottage industry.

                                            Though I notice EoMS says in the OP that he has been tweeting them for quite a while.

                                            .

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                                              #23
                                              British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                              No, they didn't. I genuinely don't think it was my email. Even though, speedway fans may not be the most progressive in the world, I am sure there were many that feel the same way. Having said that, there are still some on the FB page saying that it is PC gone mad and they want to return to/include the flag. Dickheads.

                                              Yes, Greenlander, the wyvern is a stroke of genius. I didn't think of that because I am slightly obsessed with the Pitchfork Rebellion. I will certainly be buying some merch when I go down there.

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                                                #24
                                                British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                                Just looked at the FB page coincidentally, the main complaint is that the Wyvern "looks too Welsh"!

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                                                  #25
                                                  British Speedway Fans - Keep Using Rebel Flag

                                                  Ray de Galles wrote: Just looked at the FB page coincidentally, the main complaint is that the Wyvern "looks too Welsh"!
                                                  Hmmm - the cricket club have used this, or slight variations, for many a year:



                                                  The Rebels new badge:



                                                  It's all in the head of the beast, but maybe it's the red that does it.

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