I don’t know what kind of status Scotland is aiming for, but independence-independence doesn’t have to be the goal for Scotland or Wales. They might wish to remain under the same royal head of state but with their own national assemblies. If they get large subsidies from the prosperous English South that may not be a wise alternative for them, but it did seem presumptuous to me for the newspaper to assume that England and Wales would still want to fly the same flag if major changes were in the works.
If both the UK and Scotland become EU members, then does anything really change all that much?
What the Referendum is about is full independence - their own Parliament making all decisions for their nation based in Edinburgh. And they have a right to have that, if they want it, but at the moment, it's not quite clear if a majority do, and if it's practical for them. But they have the right to decide.
They might wish to remain under the same royal head of state but with their own national assemblies.
They already have that to some extent. Scotland has had its own Parliament and Wales it's own National Assembly for over a decade now. In both cases, these bodies have power over many issues - similar in a sense to the the state governments in the US - but leave a few issues in the hands of the central government in London (Wales, leaves more in their hands than Scotland). If the Referendum passes, Scotland will take those powers (such as defence) into their own hands. And everybody agrees they have the right to do that if they choose. And so does Wales.
Even if Scotland opts for independence, they will retain the Monarchy, at least for the time being - there's no great movement that wants to change that, and the Union of Crowns predates the United Kingdom. The Queen is the rightful Queen of Scotland under Scottish law, completely separate to her status as Queen of the United Kingdom, or as Queen of England.
If they get large subsidies from the prosperous English South that may not be a wise alternative for them, but it did seem presumptuous to me for the newspaper to assume that England and Wales would still want to fly the same flag if major changes were in the works.
The difference is that there is no significant move for independence in Wales. Polls suggest a majority vote for independence is possible in Scotland. The numbers for Wales are only about 10%. Wales does not want independence from the UK at this point. Scotland might.