> I think they would be a lot more useful if they had little flags hanging
> above them, giving an indication of which people might be interested in
> them. For instance, not many Londoners would be interested in a plaque
> about how the founder of Bolivia once lived in this house,

> whereas Bolivian tourists would probably like to have it drawn to their
> attention that of all the blue plaques in London, this is the one which
> is of interest to them, so a little flagpole with a Bolivian flag above
> the blue plaque would help everyone. I don't think it would spoil
> conservation areas either.

>
> I think they would be a lot more useful if they had little flags
> hanging above them, giving an indication of which people might be
> interested in them. For instance, not many Londoners would be
> interested in a plaque about how the founder of Bolivia once lived in
> this house, whereas Bolivian tourists would probably like to have it
> drawn to their attention that of all the blue plaques in London, this
> is the one which is of interest to them, so a little flagpole with a
> Bolivian flag above the blue plaque would help everyone. I don't think
> it would spoil conservation areas either.

> "John Rowland" journeyflow.spamspam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:g89dlc$cgv$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...
>
>
>

>> I think they would be a lot more useful if they had little flags
>> hanging above them, giving an indication of which people might be
>> interested in them. For instance, not many Londoners would be
>> interested in a plaque about how the founder of Bolivia once lived in
>> this house, whereas Bolivian tourists would probably like to have it
>> drawn to their attention that of all the blue plaques in London, this
>> is the one which is of interest to them, so a little flagpole with a
>> Bolivian flag above the blue plaque would help everyone. I don't think
>> it would spoil conservation areas either.

>
> Presumably these Bolivian tourists don't wander around London aimlessly
> on the off chance they might find a Bolivian-related blue plaque. If
> they particularly wanted to see the house of the founder of Bolivia they ...

> On Aug 17, 5:07 pm, "Peter Smyth" THISukf.net> wrote:

>> "John Rowland" journeyflow.spamspam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>>
>> news:g89dlc$cgv$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...

>...

> On Sun, 17 Aug 2008, MIG wrote:

>> On Aug 17, 5:07 pm, "Peter Smyth" THISukf.net> wrote:

>>> "John Rowland" journeyflow.spamspam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message

>

>>>news:g89dlc$cgv$1$8302bc10@news.demon.co.uk...

>

>>>> I think they would be a lot more useful if they had little flags
>>>> hanging above them, giving an indication of which people might be
>>>> interested in them. For instance, not many Londoners would be
>>>> interested in a plaque about how the founder of Bolivia once lived in
>>>> this house, whereas Bolivian tourists would probably like to have it
>>>> drawn to their attention that of all the blue plaques in London, this
>>>> is the one which is of interest to them, so a little flagpole with a
>>>> Bolivian flag above the blue plaque would help everyone. I don't think
>>>> it would spoil conservation areas either.

>

>>> Presumably these Bolivian tourists don't wander around London aimlessly
>>> on the off chance they might find a Bolivian-related blue plaque. If
>>> they particularly wanted to see the house of the founder of Bolivia ...

> I think that's quite a nice idea. You might want to subdivide further than
> by country, though - if, say, 90%% of plaques are about British people ...
> then the national flag isn't providing a lot of information about those
> ones.

> Tom Anderson writes:
>

>> I think that's quite a nice idea. You might want to subdivide further
>> than by country, though - if, say, 90%% of plaques are about British
>> people ... then the national flag isn't providing a lot of information
>> about those ones.

>
> Ah, but the trick is to use the *correct* national flag. For Samuel
> Pepys, the St. George's Cross; for Samuel Johnson, the Union Jack
> without the red diagonal cross; for Samuel Palmer, the present version.

> Tom Anderson writes:

>>I think that's quite a nice idea. You might want to subdivide further than
>>by country, though - if, say, 90%% of plaques are about British people ...
>>then the national flag isn't providing a lot of information about those
>>ones.

>
> Ah, but the trick is to use the *correct* national flag. For Samuel Pepys,
> the St. George's Cross; for Samuel Johnson, the Union Jack without the
> red diagonal cross; for Samuel Palmer, the present version.

> Mark Brader wrote:

>> Tom Anderson writes:

>>> I think that's quite a nice idea. You might want to subdivide
>>> further than by country, though - if, say, 90%% of plaques are about
>>> British people ... then the national flag isn't providing a lot of
>>> information about those ones.

>>
>> Ah, but the trick is to use the *correct* national flag. For Samuel
>> Pepys, the St. George's Cross; for Samuel Johnson, the Union Jack
>> without the red diagonal cross; for Samuel Palmer, the present version.

>
> That could cause problems. For example, would you use pre- or post-
> 1800 Union Flag for Wellington? Then there are the really awkward
> people like Alexander Graham Bell[1]. Would he have a Union Flag, a
> defaced (Canadian) red ensign, or the Stars and Stripes (and...