Bimini Apologises After The United Kingdolls Wear Union Jack On Aussie Tour

DJ and drag queen Bimini has spoken about the use of the Union Jack in their work after fans questioned its appropriateness in a recent Australian tour.

Earlier this month, Bimini had been travelling around Australia as part of their United Kingdolls Reunited tour alongside fellow Drag Race UK alumni Tayce, A’Whora and Lawrence Chaney. It was during these shows that fans began to comment on the prevalence of the Union Jack in the queen’s wardrobe.

Sharing to their social media page on Wednesday, Bimini apologised for wearing the flag on behalf of themselves and the United Kingdolls.

“I see you, I hear you, and I actually took time to understand what that flag carries… why it carries so much weight, pain and history, especially in a place that was so violently colonised,” Bimini said.

“Our intention was never to be colonising ourselves, stomping around, pretending that history has never happened. Absolutely not that is so far from who we are. The energy was never empire. It was never God save the fucking King… It was Spice Girls. It was queer, camp, exaggerated Britishness turned into drag and very specifically, about reclaiming that flag that’s been hijacked by the worst people you know.

 

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“That said, intention doesn’t cancel impact, and I apologise for anybody that we offended or hurt. I get that, and learning isn’t a one time thing. It’s ongoing… But please know this came from a piece of more pop rebellion, reclaiming a flag that has been politicised currently in the UK, not colonial nostalgia.”

Shifting cultural meaning

Since the 1960s, the Union Jack has been used widely in pop culture, and became a mainstay of the British Punk scene in response to Skinheads’ use of the flag in the 1970s, symbolising rebellion and a resistance to British nationalism. Later, this aspect of it would be honoured by Vivienne Westwood in her designs, until it became a symbol of Britpop in the 1990s.

The Union Jack been a feature of Bimini’s drag aesthetic for years, and is a regular motif in their work. In 2023, they attended the Brit Awards in a gown bearing the design reappropriated in the colours of the trans flag.

“There is such an insidious focus on the lives of trans people in the British media,” they said at the time.

“It’s a moral panic created to continue divisive tactics to keep up all segregated instead of unifying against the real social issues we face in Britain today.”

However, the political implications of a British artist wearing a flag that represents so much bloodshed and violence against First Nations people, while performing on stolen land isn’t something to downplay, especially in January, near the anniversary of British colonisation.

It’s an important conversation to be had, and many of the comments under Bimini’s post thank them for addressing the issue with an open mind.

“Baaaabes as an Aboriginal and Māori person I just saw it as simply what you described it to be!” commented drag performer and Drag Race Down Under contestant Pomara Fifth. “It’s just drag and you’re from the UK like it’s that simple !!!!!”