British Grand Prix arrest threat for Lewis?

Lewis Hamilton today proudly unveiled his new helmet design which he hopes will carry him to 8th place or better in Sundays British Grand Prix. However, a legal challenge from The Flag Institute may prevent Lewis from wearing the helmet… due to a little known law dating back to 1801.

When the Union flag was first adopted, King George III issued a set of official proclamations regarding its use and one of these was “Forbidding ‘Our Jack’, either as a flag or pennant, being worn by merchants or traders for the benefit not being of The Crown”. According to The Flag Institute, the vexillological (look it up) organisation for the United Kingdom, while Lewis is not technically a merchant or trader, his team definately are and us such the flag is out of bounds.

Plus, as they rather pedantically point out, in this picture the flag is shown on its side which is also apparently a big no-no.

Tags: British Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton

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