I suppose it would help explain to any American visitors why they don't get any replies to their questions posted at 3a.m. And why any replies they do get may be drunken, rambling and incoherent!
I wish they could have kept the flame or some sort of symbol for the paralympics too. They expend much more effort and deserve to have the pomp as well.
I think I read somewhere that the Olympic Flame has been retained for the Paralympics. No doubt in a Miner's Lamp, as was the back-up flame for the Torch; in case it 'went-out'.
Correct Baldric...it is the Union Flag, but commonly called the Union Jack. In fact the Canadians refer to it as the Royal Union Flag.
That's also an urban myth, there are just too many flags which either have horizontal symmetry, have so little difference when upside down to notice, or simply become another countries flag if upside down for it to ever be an effective way to signify mayday.