# The Bull means Spain Yeh but what of the others?



## brimo (May 10, 2005)

Hi All

We've just got back from 4 and a half weeks touring in Brittany. It was brilliant. Only used two camp sites in the whole time for one night each, the rest of the time we stayed in Aires. We add more info to the Aires database when our feet touch the ground. Haven't stopped since we walked through the door yesterday.

Anyway, When we went to Spain in Feb/March we bought the black bull sticker that peeps put on the back of their van to show they have been to Spain. We've seen vans with camels on (Maybe Morrocco), Palm trees stickers (could also be Morrocco) and various other stickers such as a Moose.

We wanted to get one for France but which one is it? Does anyone have a list of which country has which sticker?

Thanks


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

Hi *brimo*. I believe the French sticker is a black Cockerel. :roll:


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## bigfoot (May 16, 2005)

Wales is a dragon, 
Arctic Scandanavia I think is a reindeer.
Liverpool is a Cortina on a pile of bricks!


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

johnsandywhite said:


> Hi *brimo*. I believe the French sticker is a black Cockerel. :roll:


Nope it is generally recognised as Portugal. There isn't one for France but I have always thought a Frog  would do or perhaps more politically correct the Eiffel Tower.

Camels and palm trees is Morocco 
Moose Scandinavia (Norway/Sweden/Finland) A Troll is also used for Norway. 
I guess a windmill could be Holland but never seen one on a van. 
I have used Edelweiss for Switzerland.

What about Germany?

peedee


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## 89429 (May 23, 2005)

Peedee for Germany a straight arm salute or a lounger with a towel on it :lol:


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## brimo (May 10, 2005)

:lol: :lol:


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## 91929 (May 1, 2005)

Yep Cockeril is for Portugal - got the story somewhere
They also have a Black 'Sandeman' man for PORTO

i am thinking about either a Windmill or Tulips for Holland but we now have a 'FRL' sticker for Freisland

Scots use the Blue & white 'Saltire'
Yorkshire has a WHITE rose and Lancashire a RED rose
Cheshirenhad a block of Cheese and stilton the same with holes in it Cheddar has a black hole

What about a snowflake for winter campers & an Eiddelwise for the Alps


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

> There isn't one for France but I have always thought a Frog would do or perhaps more politically correct the Eiffel Tower.


 A white Flag springs to mind :roll:


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## 89564 (May 28, 2005)

M&D

As i wander France and quietly read the names on memorials of all those who
died for France (especially in the 14/18 conflict )i think your jingoistic remarks about appeasement mis placed.

Go again to Oradour and tell me you would have done better.

Nick


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Err Nick - I though we were the main appeasers? 

Chamberlain, Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia - Then bang Poland. Off we go with the French as allies..

the French Government made a political decision to "give up" or actually join with Germany, which by the tone of the story in the Caen museum , they have regretted every since, and have had to learn to live with.

I'm sure M&D were not being flippant towards any memories of our or their fighting men who gave their lives for us. We were there last year and it is truly touching and sad. But i don't read any side into little quips especially when the subject at the top is nothing to do with any war, but stickers on the back's of vans.

Anyway tourers.

If you visit Leicester, my Daughter says you can have a Chav Burberry hat sticker on the back of your van.

Dave


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## 90600 (May 1, 2005)

*black bull for spain*

we went onto clip art and downloaded a frog(for france) and an ape( for gibralter) and cut them out on black fablon. portugal is usually the colourful cockeral
starblazer


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## 88781 (May 9, 2005)

No harm or offence intended Nick, 8O merely a jocular remark added to an off-beat thread.

Oradour -sur -glane (spelling) was an atrocity that I'm familiar with, unfortunately only through history books, a sad event that happened before I was born, however I do take time (respectfully) whilst in France and Belgium to visit some of the Graves.

Blue Beach Cemetery and it's memorial, often raises the question you posed about doing better..well I tried as I'm sure we all did

Regards M&D  (8 Field Squadron Royal Engineers 1975-86)


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

I think UK should have a Pig sticker. A lot of us act like one abroad, It would cause even more offence to Muslim and Jew alike than we do now. Our streets and estates look like sties, The only thing out of character is that pigs don't go around killing thousands of innocent people. Perhaps we should have a pig sticker crossed with an armourlite.


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## eddied (May 9, 2005)

:roll: Now come along children. We are in a united Europe, whether we like it or not, and depsite the quarrels between Blair/Chirac/Schroeder.
Whatever nationality we happen to be, we all have skeletons in our cupboards, things to be ashamed of, and lots to be proud of.
saluti, eddied


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

A curious story, Oradour-sur-Glane, where a retreating SS Division (Das Reich) slaughtered the entire village population and destroyed the village itself.

It's been suggested that a partisan attack (there had been very little partisan activity in this area) on a small German Army convoy had succeeded in stealing the treasures (gold, etc) looted during the Division's various campaigns. This loot was to form the officer's 'pension fund'.

The savagery of the reprisal on the people of Oradour was out of all proprtion to a mere random partisan attack, so the above postulation has a ring of authenticity to it.

I went there many years ago, and a sad, very moving place it was - left untouched as a fitting tribute to it's former inhabitants and a salutary reminder to generations to come.

However, my son visited last year, and he states that it is now nothing like as sombre as it was (maybe a bit like the Menin Gate ceremony nowadays???)

It is a place well worth visiting, and to show your children. Maybe a United States of Europe wouldn't be such a bad idea...


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

BarryandSue said:


> It is a place well worth visiting, and to show your children. Maybe a United States of Europe wouldn't be such a bad idea...


With Schroeder And Chirac as President's? :roll: 8O


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

> Maybe a United States of Europe wouldn't be such a bad idea...


Yes, John, I can't believe I said that, but at least Schroeder/Chirac won't murder entire village populations. Kill them by economic means, maybe!

That's what the European Union is all about, really - France terrified of having to fight Germany again (three times in 60 years???) and Germany trying to achieve a position of power that it failed to achieve militarily.

And Britain being dragged along on their coattails...

Back on topic - a silhouette for Britain? Maybe a shield with a heraldic device "The Pound Rampant over a supine Euro"?


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## johnsandywhite (May 9, 2005)

[quote="BarryandSue
That's what the European Union is all about, really - France terrified of having to fight Germany again (three times in 60 years???) and Germany trying to achieve a position of power that it failed to achieve militarily.

And Britain being dragged along on their coattails...

Back on topic - a silhouette for Britain? Maybe a shield with a heraldic device "The Pound Rampant over a supine Euro"?[/quote]

You know something? I've been saying the exact same thing for years. With regards a sticker for the UK. I thought it should have been the British Bulldog With rampant Union Jack? :wink:


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## 89564 (May 28, 2005)

If we feel the need to express our nation's identity by means of a sticker does it not say something about our national psyche that we can firstly come up with financial domination or rampant patriotism from a by gone age. Gentlemen that time has passed.
Pusser's idea is still under consideration!

No reindeer or palm trees for us. A chicken?God forbid.That would hardly be manly.

No wonder Chirac and the rest of Europe find us difficult to understand.

Finished no.No more to say. :? Off to the beach. :wink:


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## DJP (May 9, 2005)

*Back on thread*

Getting back to the original thread re flags/logos etc. for countries/areas.

What flag/logo for Bognor then?


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## Scotjimland (May 23, 2005)

How about this


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

BarryandSue said:


> > France terrified of having to fight Germany again (three times in 60 years???) and Germany trying to achieve a position of power that it failed to achieve militarily.
> >
> > And Britain being dragged along on their coattails...
> 
> ...


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Aha, Moondog - either "trample or be trampled". Curious how the other smaller European nations tend to side with the British ideas of 'Europe' - they're tired of being trampled by the Franco-German alliance. If we let them, Schroeder and Chirac would trample on us, too.

So, sorry, that time most definitely hasn't passed.

Patriotism, the last refuge of a scoundrel. 'spose I'm a scoundrel then.


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Yes, a good idea for a sticker, peedee, I like that - it does sum up the mentality of our 'island race'.

Many (most?) of those war cemeteries that you see dotted across France are Commonwealth War Graves - the last resting place of hundreds of thousands of young British (and Commonwealth) soldiers, mainly First but also Second World War, who had sufficient faith in this country to flock in their thousands to her defence.

They travelled to Europe to keep Europe free.


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## 89564 (May 28, 2005)

I like the castle & moat idea but perhaps with Pusser's pig peering( there is an 'r' in there) from the crennelation.*** i notice our American/Chinese spell check wants to change the spelling of crennelation..and they havent even got a castle in America**** Our mates! Cultural Impertialists!

Barry ... you are a romantic rather than a pragmatist.

Small countries rallying to the British vision of Europe Ah that will be work daft money hungry Dutchmen.

Flocked to our aid? Sent i think a better verb.

Bit like the Gurkhas i suppose cheap labour.(See the begging advert in this month's Oldie Magazine).

As we say fly the flag buy foreign. (I know you and i are AutoSleeper men).


Makes a change from tyre pressures and telly picture quality.

Night night sleep tight. :sleeping: :sleeping: 

Nick


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Nick, if pragmatism means allowing the country to be steered in the wrong direction, well, yes, I'm a silly old romantic! Just don't be a blinkered pragmatist. Wake up to what are the aims of France and Germany - they are not looking to help Britain.

The young lads weren't "sent" - they volunteered, whole townsfull of them. The Pals Battalions. Conscription didn't come until much later. (Also it's been estimated that over 70% of the Canadians who volunteered in the Great War had been born in Britain!)

Er, yes, my motorhome is built in England (AutoSleeper on Ford) - so a bit of jingoistic flag-waving there (and why not, indeed?)

And I think we're getting there... 
A shaven headed, tattooed, pig peering over a moated castle wall. There! Easy, wasn't it?!!!


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

I can't believe the way this seemingly harmless thread has taken off on a tangent. Did this not start with which symbols represented which European country? Maybe if some people realized that in only two generations removed they probably have (like my husband and I) four very young men killed and in three cases have no graves but only a "name" on a wall. I find this very sad but as people say "life must go on" I do not want to come across as some old fuddy duddy so I am going to ask the question "Is there any such thing as a "rampant Union Jack"? Now a Scottish Rampant I have heard of, but can anyone inform me about a "rampant Union Jack"?


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Pusser was a rampant Jack Tar...


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

Hi Barry and Sue, 
Enough said, do we really want to go here  I'm sure Pusser can speak for himself  Do we really have to get into all the inter-UK stuff? I am OK with being British and Scottish, so long as all the rest of you are OK with with being British and English, British and Welsh etc.


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Inter-UK stuff? Not sure what you mean, annej.

I'm British by birth, English by choice. I'm not European... yet.

We used to have a British Parliament, until Emperor Tony changed the balance. The English don't have a 'Parliament', while the Scots, Welsh and Irish do ('Assemblies').

Is that what you meant?


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi - This might seem a bit rude - BUT

Blimey, I look at the title of the post and wonder why such tripe has been posted.

I might be a bit thick, but the subject seems to be about stickers on our vans to say where we have been touring.

What the hell have wars, political rhetoric, and the European Union got to do with this.

First ever trip in our coach built, we went to Wales, we bought a sticker and left it on the van when we sold it. It say's, I’ve been there, spent a bit of money, and I’ll remember it. 

It doesn't say, I’m here to drag up history and give my opinion on politics past and present!

Get a life - some of you - lighten up. Surely we tour to find the pleasures of different regions and countries, not to remind them of their devious deed's of the past, or our thinking of their plans for the future.

Or maybe next time I go to Lancashire, I should remind those tarts that they threw our King into the river Soar, and I won't let it lie 

Dave


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

*The Bull means Spain Yeh but what of the other*

Hi Barry, 
You do not want to to start me off on politics, believe me  The Scots have a Parliament whereas the Welsh have an assembly, I don;t know much about the Welsh assembly, I certainly know that the the Scottish Parliament is as much use as as a chocolate teapot. You just have to look at the things they are pushing through the the Scottish Parliament to know what I mean. I can't even "copy and paste" their website. Which is http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/scots/index.htm 
If you actually get this link to work you are probably one of the privileged.


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

*The Bull means Spain Yeh but what of the others?

The Bul*

I am definitely with Road Runner on this thread. I really like a quite and easy life and ain't into any hassle. My main motto in live is " live and let live. You don't bother me and I won't bother you"


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

BarryandSue said:


> Pusser was a rampant Jack Tar...


Absolutely and I am very glad you reminded me. (What does rampant actually mean)


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Roadrunner and Annj - The reason this post has gone a tad of topic is probably my fault (again) so I do apologise to you both and others that feel the same. However, I do have strong views on stickers that proclaim national identity, union jack shorts and T shirts etc....The last thing I want on my van is a sign telling everyone I'm British. It's embarrassing enough being British AND abroad without advertising the fact.

We are seen by most other countries as arrogant, self opinionated, hypocritcal bully boys and yet we seem to be totally oblivious to these opinions probably because we are what they believe us to be.We didn't win the war for example as no one wins wars and there are a lot of dead people to prove it. Even worse we are running around with what I consider to be the most dangerous country this world has ever seen.

This probably is not a majority view and I won't gain any friends for posting this and may even lose some but I have an opinion about stickers which is just as valid as those who wish to have Brit stickers.

On the plus side, I will fly proudly my MHF pennant as it is a force for good.


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

I'm often guilty of going off-topic (sorreee!), but on this occasion you're not thick, Dave, but maybe a bit rude (I'd prefer 'blunt').

This is what's known as 'conversation' - even the Forum name is 'Chit-chat', and if a thread occasionally strays into areas that you don't consider right and proper, well... tough! Through all this 'sticker chit-chat', we've discovered that a few people have strong views about how this country is portrayed, a few others couldn't give a toss, and a few more have come up with ideas for an (amusing - to some) sticker that represents some of our prejudices. That's all.

The difficulty with the written word is trying to get across the slight inflections we use in speech (hence the smileys) so something that is written with an amusing mind can be read as deadly serious. Maybe this is what you've done, Dave? Or just taken a grumpy pill?   

I like posts that are informative, and to read other's opinions (not necessarily agreeing with them), but if you don't there's not a lot I can do, except to not post anything not to your liking. That ain't gonna happen 

But I defend your right to disagree, and I'll endorse Pusser's view


> On the plus side, I will fly proudly my MHF pennant as it is a force for good.


Please keep these exchanges light-hearted and pleasant.


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

Pusser said:


> The last thing I want on my van is a sign telling everyone I'm British.


Better peel off the GB sticker and slap plenty of mud on the number plate then.
Oh and the mucky duck too if you have one. That is a dead give away.

peedee


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

peedee said:


> Pusser said:
> 
> 
> > The last thing I want on my van is a sign telling everyone I'm British.
> ...


I am proud to say I have never used a GB sticker on car or M\home but I accept the number plate is a give away even though it has a ring of stars logo on. I probably wouldn't mind wearing a Euro Sticker if I knew what it stood for but would take it off if I drove outside the EEC to prevent onlookers from pointing at me and laughing. Aylesburys sticker would be John Hampden standing and pointing with a sword which is so yesterday. Can't see me sticking that on.
I did see a town in France named Condom and wondered what their logo was? Wouldn't mind sticking that on if it fits.


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Thank you, Pusser, for elevating this discussion to it's true level.
Thank you.
Thank you.


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## brimo (May 10, 2005)

So, getting back to the original topic... we now have

Spain - A bull
Portugal - Black Cockerell
Morocco - Camel or Palm Trees
Scandinavia (Norway/Sweden/Finland) - A moose but we keep seeing a Daddy, Mummy and a Baby moose on vans
France - Its been suggested a frog

The idea of these stickers we suppose is that you can tell peeps exactly where in Europe your van has travelled to even if you live in Germany, Spain or Britain. The symbols should be universally recognised i.e. Bull for Spain.

A frog for France? HHMMmm, we can see wherethat comes from if you're a Brit as we call the French 'Froggies' but would a Netherlander see it as such, I doubt it.

Maybe the sticker for France should be a bottle of wine? :lol:


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## 89564 (May 28, 2005)

:whax: :whdat: 

Pusser..Youve stolen their thread again.

Let go.

Give it back now. 0r else :grab: 

Well the dog always listens.I hope you are not as obedient.

N


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

Of course, every country already has it's own recognisable symbol (also available as a sticker) - it's called a 'flag'. :idea:


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## peedee (May 10, 2005)

I used to use the flag stickers on the inside of the door of my caravan. Not sure when the black outlines started but it is not that long ago. Think it was driven by the sale of them in the tourist shops rather than any DIY job, although I could never find a shop selling cockerals in Portugal and I made my own. I guess if the French started selling Frog stickers it would soon catch on very much in the same way as the bull and the moose.

peedee


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi Pusser - BarryandSue

On reflection, it was a grumpy pill 

I should have just said - Oy! - can we get back on topic please

I suppose it's like the "don't do politics" advert, whenever i try to avoid it, it slips in somewhere eventually. 

I'm sorry to everyone for being abrupt.

Dam - I'm turning into a grumpy old man 8O 

Dave


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## 91929 (May 1, 2005)

go to Holland and visit the war cemetries around Arnhem and those issolated graves of airmen in Freisland 
hen visit the Infantry museums at Harscamp and the Airborne museum at Hartenstein
There you will see some of the atricities carried out against thr Dutch for helping our downed airmen and also for the simple fact that we had landed in Normandy 
Then talk to the older Dutch people. You wont want to talk to the Germans ever again, let alone put a sticker on the van to advertise the fact that you have been there

Our short stay in Holland has changed my mind about the Germans. Not helped by the atttude of the bombastic germans that we were unfortunate to meet there.

One in paticular gave us a wide berth when he found out Pam could understand most of what he was saying about people - I couldnt repeat it here


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## Bazbro (May 9, 2005)

There's nothing wrong with being a 'Grumpy Old Man', Dave - I'm like that most of the time!


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi 

Thanks for that Barry, and sorry i didn't respond to you annej. I must have went to bed in a huff  

And dam right Pusser, I have just put a bigger roach pole on the back of the van, for flying the MHF pennant high and proud. 

We are not abroad this year, but MHF pennant will be at 3 music festivals, T in the Park, V Festival and Reading. Road Runner is the name of our van, and the kids co-own it, in terms of decoration, so I'll come back with some stickers I know, but what the hell they will be, i really don't want to think about. 

Of course they are recycling all the old ones, like "Keep off the Grass" but what the hell. If it amuses the kids, job done. 

Fly the flag  

Dave


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Road_Runner_644 said:


> Hi
> 
> Thanks for that Barry, and sorry i didn't respond to you annej. I must have went to bed in a huff
> 
> ...


No probs and don't forget you were probably right to get things back on track. Most members don't like straying off route they don't but off course I cannot help it and need understanding and sympathy with my affliction. Today is a big day because I am finally sending the money up to Hymmie for my pennant, having first had difficulty stealing the money, finding a sodding envelope that is big enough and todays major task is to purchase a stamp which I forgot to do yesterday. And then we will be as one, united by flag and interest. A flag that can be flown by all religions, all races, all colours, all political persusions - you can't do better than that.


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

Hi Road_Runner and Pusser, 
I intended to reply to this morning but I have been running around like a little flying creature with a distinctly brilliant hue of it's anatomy  getting ready for the off to foreign climes next Friday  Now, getting back to the question of stickers. The very name seems to bring to mind (to me anyway) those little pennants that so many caravans, and indeed cars, sported in the sixties 8O Please note that this is no more than a fleeting "childhood memory"  I don't think I would buy one of these stickers, but this is purely a personal thing.


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi annej 

I rememeber those little pennants (fleeting childhood memory again) :roll: and in fact had started collecting them about 4 years ago. 

You still see them in the more traditional places, with traditional tourist gift shops. We have half a dozen or so from France, and a maybe 3 or 4 from the UK. They have little sucker things on so you can put them on a window. 

I never got around to putting them on the old Van, as I actually used the rear view mirror, but the van we have now is far to long for the window to be of any use, so might just put them up. We'd sort of given up getting them in the last year, but I really should start getting them again. 

I'm glad you reminded me, as i'd forgotten all about them. 

Cheers 

Dave


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## annej (May 27, 2005)

Hi Dave, 
Do they really still make these? I haven't seen them for years  My older sister had loads of these pennants on her car in the late sixties/early seventies, everything from Torquay to Dunoon  Many of them (Scottish ones) from "day trips" It seemed to be the thing to do back then.


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## Road_Runner_644 (May 9, 2005)

Hi annej

Yeah - they really do.

I just looked for our little collection, but can't find it since it was pulled from the previous MH last September. Somewhere in the boxes that i've never sorted out 

As I said, it's the more traditional places that have them, I can't remember all, but the first one we got was Vendee, then Britanny, and of the Uk one's The Gower peninsula, The Broads and Dumfies & Galloway. 

Look in newsagents in France. You might even turn into a mini pennant anorak like us 

Dave


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## kevanna1959 (Apr 5, 2010)

We use stickers on the rear ladder cover. We sometimes just use the country eu stickers such as H for Hungary and SK for Slovakia ect. People often stop to look at the places we have been. There is no confusion where we are from because our number plate clearly tells everyone.
ann and kev


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## Christine600 (Jan 20, 2011)

For Sweden I think the Dalarna Horse is suitable:










(Also it would be nice if some moderator could split this thread in two - I'm only interested in the symbol stickers and those posts drown completely)


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## cabby (May 14, 2005)

What a blast from the past. so many new countries since the start of this thread, so many places have been reached by motorhomers. Would there be room now for the stickers.

cabby


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Just to veer this topic "off line" a little bit more........

Does anyone know where I can purchase the stick on map of Europe complete with the little dots to show where I have been ????

I have found one on Fleabay but its only the size of an A4 sheet of paper which is about as much use as a chocolate teapot !!

As far as a sticker for GB is concerned my vote goes for a "British Bulldog" complete with a John Bull style Union Flag waistcoat. The Bulldog has been a symbol of the UK for many years, think "Winston Churchill"


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

This thread may have run smoother if people with other agenda's had PM'd one another rather than clutter up a trivial pursuits game.

Essex is longing for a logo

On the other hand I have seen the whole side of vans covered with maps of where they have been, I presume in case they should forget. More than likely they wait in their vans for people to ask them questions about their adventures.

A simple "£" sign would identify us as not being "€"

Alan


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## Littlebt (May 19, 2012)

*Logos*

Pam&Pete said,

"Yorkshire has a WHITE rose and Lancashire a RED rose"

We in Yorkshire are still not happy with Lancashire they keep sending their "Rain" across to Yorkshire!!


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## tonyt (May 25, 2005)

OK, this might be a dumb question (mine usually are!) but what exactly is the purpose of a sticker on the back? Indicating where you've been - indicating to who - the people in the following car - why on earth would they be interested in where you've been?


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## Littlebt (May 19, 2012)

*Slogans*

Oneupmanship, look where I've been,look what I've got? However, it's not hurting anyone.


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