The Flag

Stewart Copeland's Flag
The Flag when it was first created in May 2007. Photo courtesy of DM-Kellie.

From 2007-05-27 to 2008-08-07, members of the Stewart Copeland Official Site forum showed their support for Stewart Copeland by carrying a small green flag to 91 concerts and one television appearance of The Police's 2007-2008 Reunion Tour.

History

This section needs more information.

Timeline

Notable events in the Flag's history

2007

• On 2007-05-13 The Flag is born.
• On 2007-06-16 The Flag is first seen by Stewart Copeland backstage at Bonnaroo. He gives the Flag two thumbs up.[1]
• On 2007-06-29 The Flag receives its first on-stage acknowledgment from Stewart.
• On 2007-07-16 the first Flag Point photo is captured.
• On 2007-07-18 Stewart mentions the Flag publicly for the first time.[2]
• On 2007-08-30 The Flag enters official Police history, mentioned in an official news item and making a brief appearance in the band's European Tour Electronic Press Kit.[3][4]
• On 2007-09-20 The Flag is immortalized in song, "The Flag of Copelandia Anthem" by BongoBoy. Stewart posts to express his approval, joking that "Andy and Sting are very exited (sic) about your song. Just the sort of new material that we've been looking for! We should have it worked into the set by Munich..." [5][6]
• On 2007-11-21 the Flag of Copelandia's "The Little Flag That Could" photo gallery -- a collection of photos of the Flag, of Stewart's fans with the Flag, and of Stewart's reactions to the Flag all over the world -- is launched. [7]
• On 2007-11-28 the Flag meets Stewart Copeland for the first time. This unscheduled meeting is met with mixed reactions by forum members, and Stewart posts to express both his apologies and his appreciation.[8][9][10]
• On 2007-11-30 JMRL drives two-and-a-half hours across Argentina to convince FedEx contractor Fast Track to release the Flag, and by doing so, makes it possible for the Flag to attend three concerts in South America.[11][12][13]
• In December 2007 Stewart mentions the Flag in his holiday greeting on the home page of his official site.[14]

2008

• On 2008-01-19 Stewart first references the Flag in public from the stage, shouting, "Hold that flag up right there! Right there!" [15] (bootleg)
• On 2008-03-26 Stewart describes his Flag during a Q&A session.[16][17]
• On 2008-05-14 an alternative, "freak out flailing version" of the Flag anthem, "The Flag of Copelandia 2008," is posted by BongoBoy. [18][19]
• On 2008-05-20 the Flag inspires an eighth grade French lesson in the form of "Le Drapeau Vert." The semi-fictional story will also launch a classroom board game. [20][21]
• On 2008-07-28 Stewart Copeland and Jeff Seitz have a small panic as, due to a miscommunication of information, they fear that the Flag may have been confiscated by security.
• On 2008-07-31 Jeff Seitz signs the Flag.
• On 2008-08-07, just before the first encore at the final The Police concert at Madison Square Garden, Stewart Copeland hangs the Flag on stage next to his drumkit on a special rig created for the purpose. [22][23] The Flag appears on the live Best Buy broadcast of the encores a number of times, most notably during the altered So Lonely lyric "Welcome to the Stewart Copeland show." (cite)
• On 2008-08-21 the Flag appears in the background of photos of the Police's reunion tour finale published online by Rolling Stone magazine. [24][25][26][27][28] A few days later the Flag appears in the print edition of Rolling Stone, issue #1060, publication date 2008-09-04.[29]

Flag Schedule

The Flag appeared at the following Police performances:

Date	Venue	Location	Flag-Bearer
2007-05-27	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-05-28	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-06-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-06-23	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-06-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-06-30	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-02	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-10	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-19	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-20	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-22	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-23	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-28	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-07-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-08-01	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-08-03	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-08-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-08-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-08	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-09	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-11	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-13	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-14	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-19	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-22	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-27	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-09-30	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-02	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-06	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-08	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-19	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-20	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-10-31	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-02	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-03	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-08	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-09	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-11	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-18	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-11-27	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-12-01	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-12-02	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2007-12-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-01-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-01-19	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-01-26	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-02-10	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-02-13	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-02-14	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-02-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-02-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-01	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-03	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-04	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-10	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-23	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-26	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-27	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-05-28	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-07	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-08	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-18	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-20	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-22	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-06-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-14	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-16	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-17	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-19	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-21	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-22	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-25	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-28	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-29	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-07-31	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-01	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-03	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-04	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-05	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-06	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name
2008-08-07	VENUE	City, State, Country	user name

Controversies and kerfluffles

This section needs more information.

Leroy Coolbreeze Fund for Melanoma

On 2007-09-28 DirtyMartini posted on the SC.net forum, proposing the idea of "attaching" a charity to the forum's Flag project.[30] After much consideration, dialogue, and research, the Leroy Coolbreeze Fund for Melanoma to benefit the Melanoma International Foundation was born.[31][32]. The fund was organized and named in honor of Stewart's brother Ian, who passed away due to melanoma on 2006-05-23.

Although originally conceived in association with the Flag, members of SC.net quickly took it upon themselves to raise money for the Fund through various means, encouraging fundraising in such large-scale capacities as melanoma walks and charity bike rides, as well as through small methods, such as bumping the relevant fundraising thread at the holidays, in association with the passing of loved ones or celebrities, and in appreciation to Stewart Copeland for his generous donation of concert tickets to forum members for the final Police concert.[33][34]

As of 2008-09-05, approximately $5500 had been raised for melanoma research through the Leroy Coolbreeze Fund.[35][36][37]

See also

This section needs more information.

External links

• Photo Gallery: The Little Flag That Could
• Video: "La Ballade du Drapeau": Stewart Copeland talks about the Flag
• "The Flag of Copelandia" by BongoBoy

References

• Let your Team Copeland Flag fly!!! (Flag-Bearers wanted.)