A Swiss man who flew a Jack Daniels flag outside his home ran into trouble ....
..... when his Zurich neighbours mistook it for an ISIS flag.
They accused him of being a terrorist, and then threatened him when the flag went up. He received an anonymous letter addressed to him that said he would be 'put under watch'. It added that 'Should we be afraid of you? First the Italian flag and now the black flag of death.' The letter was signed by 'concerned neighbours'.
For those of his neighbours who confused the Tennessee whiskey brand's logo for that of ISIS here's one version of the offending flag (no, not the Italian flag, which they obviously didn't like either).
The man who is of Italian background, and who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I hung it up, because I found it funny. I was completely flabbergasted when I read it [the letter].''
..... when his Zurich neighbours mistook it for an ISIS flag.
They accused him of being a terrorist, and then threatened him when the flag went up. He received an anonymous letter addressed to him that said he would be 'put under watch'. It added that 'Should we be afraid of you? First the Italian flag and now the black flag of death.' The letter was signed by 'concerned neighbours'.
For those of his neighbours who confused the Tennessee whiskey brand's logo for that of ISIS here's one version of the offending flag (no, not the Italian flag, which they obviously didn't like either).
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| The Black Flag Of Death |
The man who is of Italian background, and who wished to remain anonymous, said: 'I hung it up, because I found it funny. I was completely flabbergasted when I read it [the letter].''
The concerned neighbour is obviously not a vexillologist.
ReplyDeleteItalophobia is common in the non Italian cantons of Switzerland.
DeleteVexillology: A modern word from the late 1950s, derived from Vexillum, the Latin term for a square flag or banner of the ancient Roman cavalry .... see you can teach an old dog something new!
DeleteAs for Italophobia in Switzerland, well I had a friend who was an Italian Swiss and he did mention that the French, German and Italian speaking cantons don't always get on with each other. But then a Sicilian would know that wouldn't they Moustache Pete?