And the bits of Britain's ex-possessions that still have the Union flag among their national symbols -- I live in Ontario, a perfect example -- will look more and more like the Holy Roman Empire, which was famously neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

With luck, we will take the recombination (or disintegration) of the UK as an opportunity to ask ourselves why we are hanging on to something that is so far past its sell-by date.