A UK council has secured a High Court injunction to prevent individuals from placing flags on lampposts.
Oxfordshire County Council initiated legal action, citing safety risks, trespass and obstruction from flags being placed near highways.
The council confirmed flags had been placed without permission for months, despite a formal legal notice in March and pre-action letters sent in May.
In a judgment on Friday, Mr Justice Dexter Dias made an injunction ordering unknown people not to attach flags to highway structures or paint them on roads in Oxfordshire.
Breach of the injunction can lead to seizures of assets, unlimited fines or imprisonment.
This follows a period of widespread Union and St George’s Cross flag displays, spurred by the ‘Operation Raise The Colours' campaign.
Several local authorities have removed such flags, sparking political debate; some decry the removals, while others link the increased flying to xenophobia or racism.
The judge said: “The motivation for the claimant’s application against persons unknown is that a significant body of participants in the affixing of flags in Oxfordshire remains unidentified at the time of the applications, and indeed at the hearings before the court.”
Mr Justice Dexter Dias continued: “Although the claimant has repeatedly removed unauthorised flags, more flags are later affixed.
“People directed by the claimant, whether council employees or contractors, have been obstructed in the execution of their removal duties, to the extent that at times they have simply given up on the removal.”
The judge said that workers have faced abuse or intimidation while taking flags down, as well as residents.
The full judgment in Oxfordshire County Council -v- Ben Cullen and others can now be read on the judicial website: https://t.co/zTbHMljfek
— Judicial Office (@JudiciaryUK) July 31, 2026
He added that maintenance teams have been “working in fear”, are told to wear face coverings and have had to check vehicles for tracking tags after a worker’s home address was published.
Mr Justice Dexter Dias said: “The affixing of flags and the painting of insignia on the highway has continued consistently and persistently since August 2025.
“There is little prospect absent an injunction that it will stop.”
The judgment comes after three people associated with Raise The Colours – Ben Cullen, Trudy Wells and Ryan Bridge – gave undertakings “not to engage in any future flag-related activity”.
Mr Justice Dexter Dias also made an order granting an injunction against group member Kevin Good.
