Flags have become somewhat of a tradition when it comes to the Glastonbury Festival.
Not only is it a handy way for people to find their flag-bearing friends in crowds of thousands of people, but it’s also a way for revellers to make a statement and convey a message to the crowd.
If you’re tuning in to the BBC’s live event coverage, it’s also hard to miss the sea of flags waving above the excited crowds in front of whatever artist has taken to the stage.
Over the years, however, there has also been some conflict regarding flags: festival-goers either love them or hate them.
“The problem with the flags these days is that every f**ker brings one, most of which are half arsed or unfunny, purely to be seen on TV or in the hope of an act pointing them out,” one frustrated person wrote on a forum.
Almost 15 years ago, Glastonbury organisers actually consulted fans on whether they should implement a ban on flags at the festival after noticing people complain about them.
"Our gut feeling here at Festival HQ is that they shouldn't be banned, as we think they add to the magic of a big Pyramid stage performance. But we wanted to find out what you folks think,” the Glasto team said at the time.
A total of 55% of voters from 71 countries eventually voted to keep the flags, leading to many more years of flag-bearing fun at the annual Worthy Farm festival.
While Glastonbury is all about inclusivity, our increasingly polarised world has also led to questions about appropriate flags. Namely are there any rules against what flags people fly?
In recent weeks, politicians have criticised the Irish band Kneecap ahead of their Glastonbury performance after one of its members was charged with a terror offence for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a gig.
There have also been discussions in online forums about how Glastonbury-goers can support Palestine as Isreal continues to massacre civilians in the beseiged Gaza Strip.
“Flags,” wrote one online profile. “They’re an iconic part of Glastonbury, so the reappropriation of them for protest makes them fit in to the wider festival. They’re also really visible, they will be noticed. You can get them in the shot for the TV cameras, shown on the BBC who haven’t been exactly golden on the whole situation. You should join your mates and all bring flags. Power in numbers. Maybe bring spares to give to people to hoist.”
But are any flags actually banned?
Are political flags banned at Glastonbury?
Glastonbury markets itself as a festival “established to celebrate the best of human endeavour, with ideals of peace, unity, respect and hope underpinning all that the Festival stands for.”
It doesn’t look like any policy on the Glastonbury website prohibits certain flags.
Glastonbury also champions political discourse at its Speaker’s Forum, and nothing prohibits artists from expressing their political opinions during their shows, which suggests that freedom of expression is embraced among festival-goers too.
Glastonbury organisers didn’t respond to The Standard’s queries about this at the time of writing.
What items are banned from Glastonbury?
While there may not be much information about flags, there’s a pretty extensive list of items that are definitely banned which include anything in glass, weapons, drones and excessive amounts of alcohol and cigarettes.
Here is the official Glastonbury list of banned ‘contraband’ items in 2025:
1. Excessive amounts of cigarettes (any amount over personal use for the duration of the event)2. Excessive amounts of alcohol (any amount over personal use for the duration of the event)3. Excessive amounts of soft drinks (anything over personal use for the duration of the event)4. Glass containers / bottles (likely to cause harm to livestock)5. Sound systems (without written approval)6. Knives (without written approval)7. Weapons and potential weapons; anything adapted for such a purpose8. Unauthorised or counterfeit merchandise; with or without the Glastonbury Festival or PiltonParty logo9. Body piercing equipment10. Flares; such as emergency or distress flares manufactured for legitimate military, maritime ortransport purposes (under any circumstances)11. Smoke Bombs12. Fireworks, including sparklers (without written approval)13. Generators (without written approval)14. Lasers / Laser Pens15. Plastic or polystyrene disposable plates, trays, cups, mugs or plastic cutlery16. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV’s); commonly known as ‘Drones’ or ‘Remotely Piloted Aircraft’17. Chinese / Sky Lanterns18. Kites19. Professional tape recorders, film and video equipment (without written approval)20. Forged tickets and wristbands or an access pass of any description21. All substances defined as a ‘Psychoactive Substance’ under the new Psychoactive SubstancesAct 2016. These substances will be those substances previously referred to as ‘Legal Highs’and will include herbal materials, powders, tablets, crystalline substances, gas or liquids andmay be packaged and marked as ‘smoking materials’, ‘research chemicals’, ‘room deodorisers’,‘herbal incense’ and ‘cream chargers’, some may even state the product is not for ‘humanconsumption’22. Nitrous Oxide in any form (without written approval)23. Alkyl Nitrates (otherwise known as Poppers)24. Any object that GFEL considers to be potentially
