A FORMER mayor of Aberystwyth has called upon the people of Wales not to fly the Union Jack.

Siôn Jobbins, who lives in Llanbadarn Fawr, believes that if Welsh people fly the Union Jack it is “hoisting up the white flag and surrendering Welsh nationality”.

His comments appear in a new comprehensive history of the iconic Welsh flag published by Y Lolfa – the publishers who recently launched little Red Dragon flag stickers for motorists to place over the Union Jack flag on the newly designed driving licence.

“Flying the Union Jack means always, in the final analysis, deferring to Westminster and airbrushing Wales from the picture,” Mr Jobbins said.

“Where we have the Union Flag – such as the Olympic Games in a few months’ time – we’ll see that Wales is invisible and doesn’t exist.

“To fly the Union Jack is to agree ultimately that our Welshness can only by in the image allowed within Westminster rule and sensibilities.”

The book details the story behind one of the world’s most distinctive flags and Wales’ greatest symbol.

Readers may be surprised to know that the popular flag was only made the official flag of Wales in 1959.

See this week’s south editions for the full story, in shops and online on Wednesday