Micronational claims and sovereignty in the Minquiers and 脡cr茅hous

Abstract

This article examines the Minquiers and 脡cr茅hous in terms of micronational claims; factors such as the public imagination around being part of a Crown Dependency, having Norman heritage, and being on the borderlands between the Bailiwick of Jersey and the French Republic contribute to the micronational claims in the reefs. The 鈥榠nvasions鈥� of the Minquiers by supporters of the Kingdom of Patagonia were seen as a political protest; the use of the Kingdom of Patagonia's flag as a symbol of this protest confirms the validity of the flag as an officially sanctioned symbol. In the case of the hermits living in the 脡cr茅hous, the attribution of imagined sovereignty by claiming the title of 鈥楰ing of the 脡cr茅hous鈥� is associated with the peculiarities of the sovereignty of the Channel Islands and the Norman heritage that dominates the Channel Islands鈥� sense of identity. The use of flags in micronationality seeks an element of group cohesiveness, whereas the claims of sovereignty in the 脡cr茅hous are more aligned with place attachment and individual initiative.