During the deployment, a visit to the El Callao naval base in Peru was cancelled by the South American country as an "act of solidarity" with Argentina in its dispute with the UK over the Falkland Islands.

BBC: HMS Montrose returns after south Atlantic deployment

Author and anthropologist Simon Kuper agrees, saying the political context may also explain why places like Gibraltar and the Falkland islands have more symbols of Britishness than many areas in the UK, where ostentatiously displaying union jacks might be seen as old-fashioned or embarrassing.

BBC: Are there places more British than the UK?