Not Flag Day, But Fag Day

It’s not what you might think. There was no Pride Day 100 years ago. These two members of the armed services shown in the poster above are definitely sharing a moment. But it was not intended to be depicting a gay moment.

Asking for a fag may not be in the parlance of Americans, but to Brits the meaning is very clear. “Do you have a cigarette?”

To the British “fag” is not necessarily a gay slur. Even today many Brits use the slang term for cigarettes: “fags.”

British derogatory slang names for “gay” back then (and now) would be; pansy; poof; fairy; bugger; bender and a litany of other put downs including faggot or fag. But usually faggot indicates a gathering of a bundle of sticks for kindling and fag for a smoke.

So why was there a “fag” day in Great Britain on May 29, 1917?

The official reason was that wounded soldiers and sailors while recuperating in hospitals would be overlooked when it came to receiving “smoke” care packages. The public who would donate and send tobacco to the front for soldiers were unaware that it was difficult to get a cigarette in a hospital. The injured armed forces who were “dying for a smoke” had a hard time getting one. This poster advertised that fact and an appeal was made for that day to provide smokes for the wounded.

Practically everything about this appeal would be disparaged today. In the final analysis, is the name of the day worse than the idea of smoking in a hospital?