From the world of UEFA Champions League soccer this week comes an item of interest … here’s a little excerpt from Sports Illustrated:
The Union of European Football Associations said the banner reading “Romani ite domum” – Latin for “Romans Go Home” – was considered provocative.
The slogan references a scene in the movie comedy Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.” UEFA did approve the German fans displaying a “Life of Bayern” flag at the Allianz Arena.
… and UEFA’s reasons:
In a statement, UEFA said: “Anything that may cause offense to a fan base or ethnic group, and therefore pose a security risk, including banners or symbols, is carefully vetted.”
… I guess UEFA didn’t want the crowd to get all ‘Classical’ on Bayern’s collective posteriors …
via: UEFA bars Munich fans’ Monty Python sign, cited as ‘provocative’
Sadly, the Romani do seem to have gone home in this one, losing 2-0 on goals by Klose and Mueller. To console myself, of course, I did the expected watching of a fave scene (you knew this was coming):
A (potentially, depending on whether the intent was inherently anti-Catholic or merely to play off a famous comic scene in which those from Rome are invited to return thither) less benign and certainly more political use of a “Romani ite domum” banner popped up yesterday, in a photograph of people in London protesting against the Pope’s being accorded a state visit, taken and posted by Dr Ben Goldacre at http://yfrog.com/n58u7lj – the placard is to the immediate right of the central “I believe in science” one.
By the way, the scene from Life of Brian is also among those on the official Python YouTube channel, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbI-fDzUJXI