Aliasing union_flag → union_jack
Link to alias

Reason:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Jack

Tag should be "British_flag".
We don't tag the american flag as "old_glory" or other such nicknames, why would we use a nickname for the British flag?

Fair enough. Then union_flag union_jack and british_flag should all be aliases then.

Halite said:
Tag should be "British_flag".
We don't tag the american flag as "old_glory" or other such nicknames, why would we use a nickname for the British flag?

I don't mind either way, but Union Jack is the official name for it and not just a nickname like Old Glory.

Saffron said:
I don't mind either way, but Union Jack is the official name for it and not just a nickname like Old Glory.

It may be the official nickname, but it's still a nickname.
Jack is just another name for a flag, Union Jack is literally a synonym for Union Flag, and Union is talking about Great Britain in the context of Union Jack.
So all it is, is "British Flag" but with different words.
Literally the same as any other nickname, like using Tom instead of Thomas, or Fred instead of Frederick.

Also on that note, the "union flag" takes on a whole different meaning when applied to the United states, you know, like the civil war.

This is a good alias. Union Jack is the official name for the flag (ar at least equally official as "Union Flag") , and is the most widely used name. Just because the American flag doesn't have a better name than "the American flag" doesn't mean the same pattern should be applied to every country.

Wyvrn said:
This is a good alias. Union Jack is the official name for the flag (ar at least equally official as "Union Flag") , and is the most widely used name. Just because the American flag doesn't have a better name than "the American flag" doesn't mean the same pattern should be applied to every country.

https://e621.net/tag?name=*_flag&type=&order=count

Unless you're claiming that no one calls it the "British flag", then the correct tag to fit with other standard tags is "british_flag".

There's no need to sacrifice correctness to fit this tag into a pattern that is not always applicable. Aliases can ensure anyone trying to use british_flag or union_flag are redirected to union_jack. And as mentioned earlier, "Union Jack" is much more popular than "Union Flag", even on this site.

Wyvrn said:
There's no need to sacrifice correctness to fit this tag into a pattern that is not always applicable. Aliases can ensure anyone trying to use british_flag or union_flag are redirected to union_jack. And as mentioned earlier, "Union Jack" is much more popular than "Union Flag", even on this site.

That's just it, "british flag" isn't incorrect.
It's a perfectly acceptable, accurate, and correct name for it as well.
We're not sacrificing any correctness.
And the argument about alias redirects works just as well the other way, anyone searching or tagging union_jack will just find the british_flag tag.

Edit: In fact it was known as the british flag for years before anyone called it the "union jack".
http://www.flaginstitute.org/wp/british-flags/the-union-jack-or-the-union-flag/

But why do you want to use an unpopular term for it instead of "Union Jack", the most popular name? Using the right name for it is better than using a less right name just so it looks similar to some other tags.

I have never heard of union jack before this thread. I'm leaning toward british_flag, since I have heard that a billion times before

'Union Jack' is far and away the most popular and most searched-for term, more than twice as popular as 'British Flag' or 'Union Flag'.

Wyvrn said:
'Union Jack' is far and away the most popular and most searched-for term, more than twice as popular as 'British Flag' or 'Union Flag'.

And an alias takes care of any search-ability problems.
When we have multiple similar tags, we try to keep the tags similar looking.
All the other flag tags are "*_flag", so it makes more sense to do the same with the british flag.

I'm still on the fence with this one, if you went up to a random person in the UK (and probably places with strong connections to the UK) and said "What's this?" and showed them the flag they'd probably respond "the Union Jack" where anybody in the US would probably respond "the British flag". From what I've seen we usually go with what's most popular in the US.

Additionally, the Union Jack is a design which isn't just limited to usage by the UK. What about when it's incorporated as part of another country's flag, like Australia? It isn't called the British flag then, but instead the Union Jack/Flag.

I'm not sure if that would be relevant since we'll just tag that as Australian flag rather than go into depth of what the flag contains.

There's also a uk_flag tag which should also be aliased to whichever result comes out of this.

Remember: tags are designed to be functional.

It sounds like people want the union jack due to the popularity of the name, and the British flag since that is strictly what it is.

My personal opinion is union jack, being that it's what people are more likely to search for. I'll bring it up with the rest of the admins, though.

The question isn't "What will people search?" The search results will be the same regardless of the direction of the alias.

The question is "What will people recognize?" If someone sees Union_Jack, then do they know what to expect when they click on it?

Union_Jack seems fine. If anyone searches for the British flag, they likely know its nickname.

Some users won't know the meaning without googling it, but we have so many tags that are more obscure (such as square_crossover) that I don't see any major problems with this one.