I’d been living in a quiet coastal town for a year, and had seen bumper stickers with the St Piran flag everywhere, when I asked one of my new friends at the school gates if she knew where I could get one for my little battered Mazda. “Oh my God,” she said. “Don’t put a Cornish flag sticker on your car – it’ll get keyed!” Yes, she was exaggerating about it being a callsign for vandals. I’m sure no one in my neighbourhood would have dreamed of keying my already scratched-up car.