@rottenmeier *chuckle* The friends would just want me to tell them - as it is, I've had a brainwave: going to try and find one of those lapel pins with the flag, and then buy a bit of black ribbon to put around it.

(Seriously, this is inspired by a practice in the military - when a unit had misbehaved, they were forced to roll-up their flags, and bind them with black ribbons. Only after they'd sat out their punishment, could they "unfurl" their colors again.)