But for one Islander, flying national flags is a daily routine – and he can perhaps claim to be the Island’s most dedicated vexillophile, the term applied to a hobbyist or general admirer of flags.
And Gerald Bisson even puts a sign on the fence outside his house every day to let curious passers-by know which country’s flag is flying above their heads.
The former Royal British Legion chairman and his wife, Jane, live on the Coast Road near to La Rocque, on the Grouville side of the parish boundary with St Clement.
His passion for flags goes back to his army service in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, and his collection began on their honeymoon in what was then Yugoslavia, when he bought a flag as a souvenir.
‘Since then we have bought flags from each of the countries we have visited together, or by ourselves,’ Mr Bisson said. ‘I just enjoy flying flags and we now own about 150, with the cheapest printed ones costing just £5 and the most expensive one, the regimental flag of my old regiment, costing me £400, as I had it specially made.’
He religiously observes the flag-flying ‘etiquette’, which dictates when, where and how flags should be flown. This means raising each day’s flag between 7 am and 8 am and taking it down at dusk. Occasionally he has forgotten to lower a flag before dark, but as there is a lamppost close to his home, and as etiquette dictates that flags flown overnight have to be illuminated, he can get away with it.
His collection includes the Union Flag, the flags of the Channel Islands, the Baltic states, Hungary, New Zealand, Andorra, Brittany – he is of Breton heritage – and the Philippines.
They are carefully stored and catalogued to be flown according to his tried and tested system. The Union Flag is flown for special national occasions such as Royal birthdays, while flags of other countries are likewise flown to respect their national days.
When there is no ‘official’ reason to fly a particular flag, Mr Bisson follows the letters in the alphabet, beginning with Andorra and ending with the flag of the former Yugoslavia, to create a rota.
