As it happens very often, my sweet daughter popped up in the PP room
with fresh coffee and, as usual, she sat down looking over my shoulder.
I had my RAW converter opened and was peaking at a forum's notifica-
tion when she came up with:
"Why the flags? Why is it important in a photo forum? What's the idea?"
She had all kinds of things to say and questions to ask. I quietly listen to
her concerns and ended up saying: "I think this is a great feature that all
are free to use."
The most important point, in my eye, for the flags is that they say some-
thing about the origin of a member… something like a cultural badge that
may explain how things are seen, felt, and — though through a common
language used by all — everyone has a twist expressing themselves and
I include local expressions and formulations that are typical in given cul-
tural environments.
I don't see the flags as national or political statements but as cultural re-
ferences and affiliations — as diverse as they may be.