“This is NOT racist never has been never will be,” reads the fundraising page of a group calling itself the Wythall Flaggers, which by Tuesday afternoon had raised more than £2,000, mostly in small donations of £5 and £10. “We have members of the community of all ethnicities and religions stopping by and praising what we are doing so please don’t call this racist.”
The money, according to the page’s organiser, will be used for “coating the local community in England flags as this is home and we should be patriotic and proud … We need help to cover every street in Wythall with our beautiful St George’s cross.”
If only all in the Worcestershire village, south of Birmingham, agreed. Footage posted on social media earlier this week claims to show an elderly couple using a ladder to remove the English national flag from a lamp-post in the village. One comment on social media reads: “Traitors.”
Just weeks after many people in England united around its national flag as the country’s female football team won the European championships, the cross of St George and the British union jack are being raised again in communities across the country. This time however, it is part of an increasingly organised campaign that claims to be purely about patriotism but which many fear – amid a climate of anti-migrant protests and rising far-right activity – could be much more divisive and dangerous.
“Let’s bring back patriotism once and for all,” reads the Facebook page of Operation Raise the Colours, which urges members to post images of the assorted national flags of the four British nations “being raised around our great towns and cities”. Users from Walsall and Coventry and Redditch have posted images of flags on lamp-posts and painted on mini-roundabouts and folded in piles ready for deployment.
“In case anyone needs flags Temu has them,” wrote one poster. Amazon has a deal on flagpoles, suggested another. A third posted a plea that the union flag be hung the right way up.
However anti-racism campaigners say they have concerns about the motivation and timing of the movement. “We are concerned that the discussion around the English flag and patriotism is giving cover for racism driven by the far right, and – shamefully – by politicians of all shades,” said Lewis Nielsen, anti-fascist officer at Stand Up to Racism. “We do feel the movement is quite dangerous and comes at a tipping point where the far right is trying to build.”
Having apparently grown out of efforts last month in the Birmingham suburbs of Weoley Castle and Northfield, flag-flying has gathered pace in the city and elsewhere, attracting controversy – and wider political and media attention – after the city council said it would remove banners and flags from lamp-posts as part of a plan to upgrade to LED lighting. Flags have been hung in neighbourhoods across the city, with social media posts claiming “patriotic people” were putting new banners up on lamp-posts as quickly as local authority staff removed them.
The council has said it has no policy of removing flags, saying it “proudly” flew the union flag outside the Council House every day. “When it comes to items attached to lamp-posts, it is normal council procedure for these to be removed on a regular basis … As has always been the case, people are free to fly or hang flags from their homes or gardens, but we ask that they are not attached to street furniture.”
Many self-described patriots remain outraged, however, and the controversy gathered further pace after the London borough of Tower Hamlets, which has been a flashpoint for anti-migrant protests, confirmed this week that it was removing St George flags from lamp-posts. The 12 councils controlled by Reform jointly pledged on Monday that they would not take down union or St George flags, calling them “symbols of unity and inclusion”.
Tower Hamlets council said said: “While we recognise people wish to express their views, we have a responsibility to monitor and maintain council infrastructure. Where flags are attached to council-owned infrastructure without permission, they may be removed as part of routine maintenance.”
Asked about the issue on Tuesday, Keir Starmer’s official spokesperson said the prime minister was a “patriot” who believed people should “absolutely” fly the British and English flags, later clarifying that he was not familiar with events in Birmingham or Tower Hamlets.
“The PM’s always been clear about his pride in Britain, reflected in the fact we often have the St George’s flag, and other flags, flying in Downing Street.”
Meanwhile Operation Raise the Colours has ambitions to spread further. “Over 800 people in less than 40 hours is impressive and shows people’s passion for this,” an admin posted on the group on Tuesday. “We ideally need to be organising into local Groups and hitting areas en mass [sic].. As many as possible in as little time as possible.”
