Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) placement of the "Union Jack" on Bonnet sides

Thanks very much for this. It's something that has been on my wishlist for ages but I've never found decent enough badges. I shall order a couple of these.

The pedant in me thinks that the badge on the right-hand side of the car should be the other way around, otherwise you appear to be "pushing" the flag through the air ... at least when going forward.



(and lest someone says just turn it upside down, that doesn't work. Any more than turning a real flag through 180 degrees is possible.)

It is almost obligatory now for vintage Bentleys with "Le Mans" bodywork to sport a Union Jack on each side but I rarely see one with the flag reversed on the right. I found this very rare example on the net...

Be aware when my Union Jack badges arrived from Vintage Supplies I was very disappointed with them, the enamel was cracked and pitted, this is the stock image from the Vintage Supplies website and a long way off the quality of what I recieved.



Do not expect them to look like this when they arrive!

However, before sending them back I decided to try a few coats of 2k clear coat, and boy did they come up good.



Not perfect you understand, but I didn't want perfect, with four heavy coats of quality 2k clear coat they came up looking like nicely aged genuine antique emblems.

I swear if you found them in an old tissue paper lined cardboard box at Beaulieu Autojumble, you'd be convinced they were made in the 1930's and had just seen a bit of life, perhaps doing service for many years on an old Bently or the like.

Not bad for £20 the pair, plus the cost of some clear coat, four screws and some 3M mounting tape

While the pedants amongst you may highlight the orientation error the reality is nobody has ever raised this with me out in the wild, the way more important element for me is that the emblems are of significantly superior quality (once clear coated) to anything else I've found to date.





The photos really don't do them justice as in the real world the glass enamel over brass simply looks period correct where others look too perfect yet cheap and modern at the same time.

Sure, they have an aged look but as far as I’m concerned that just adds to the sense of authenticity, with the clear coat applied they suddenly gave off that lovely deep enamel lustre which is quite jewel like, works well with my brass tax disc holder too.







And now here from a distance in the French countryside on our way back from this year's Le Mans Classic.

Surely they would look better fixed halfway down the bonnet or is that just me ?

The crunch..

....

I took a "low profile" approach when I fitted an Australian Flag to my MOG...

That’s the same location BL used for their logo in the 70’s. IIRC it marked the point of the first rust bubble on Minis.

To be honest my objective was to create something authentic, as such I took my Union Jack emblem positioning references from how it was typically done back in the day.











I guess it's personal choice but the lower position some go for just doesn't look right to me, in addition to proudly showing the vehicle was British the more authentic higher position was used to encourage the eye to follow the flowing lines of the bonnet, and thus giving an impression of movement at speed.



On a Morgan, I feel the lower detail should be left exclusively for the bonnet catch, if you start adding more trinkets in the lower area it all becomes too busy down there. To ensure a balance that's pleasing to the eye I believe the emblem should sit high, in doing so it creates reflective symmetry with the bonnet catch and forces the eye to follow the upper flowing lines down the flank of the car.



When placing the emblem I feel one should consider the line of the bonnet louvres and their aesthetic contribution, by placing the emblem in the upper position my observation would be that it serves to punctuate these lines perfectly.

My personal opinion is to look right the emblem should be placed either slightly above, slightly below or even bang on the top line of the louvre, but either way it must be aligned to that line to remain pleasing to the eye.

Mine's up top .... but it's very much a personal choice ... respect to Monty for thinking things through .... getting details right often makes a difference even if the viewer doesn't consciously register it .... sometimes some cars just look 'all of a piece' and it's down to stuff like this

However I do like the positioning of the Aussie flag on the red car ... a conscious alternative choice that I think also works



K

But if you're a member of Morgan Club de France (and you should be, Jacques!), you can buy a bonnet badge that very cleverly combines the Union Jack and the Tricolore.