What the wave of St George's flags across England means for national identity

It’s impossible to walk around England at the moment without seeing a St George’s flag – whether it be hung from a flagpole, clamped in a bedroom window or painted on a mini-roundabout. 

But is a world where no motorway bridge is safe from having a flag tied to it really an explosion of national pride at a time of unrest, or an unsettling showing of nationalism creeping under the surface? 

Another summer where immigration has been in the spotlight has seen England grapple with its national identity. 

And even the prime minister Keir Starmer waded in on the debate as flag fever hit new heights. 

“I’m very encouraging of flags. I think they’re patriotic and a great symbol of our nation,” Starmer told BBC Radio 5 Live last week. “I don’t think they should be devalued and belittled and I think sometimes when they are used for divisive purposes, it actually devalues our flag. I don’t want to see that, I’m proud of our flag. I sit in front of our flag and I’m very proud to do so.” 

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For some, flags have been weaponised and the never-ending exposure has them flagging. That’s particularly true in a summer where the St George’s flag has been mostly seen draped around protesters’ shoulders outside asylum hotels in a display of provocation and intimidation. 

Anti-racism group Hope Not Hate has linked the rise in flags flying to the far-right under Operation Raise the Colours, pointing the finger at activist and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, as one of the organisers. 

The reverse of the asylum protests – where protests involving so-called concerned families have been hijacked and whipped up by far-right groups – the proliferation of flags has spread beyond its far-right origins to a more mainstream showing of national pride for some.   

To understand more about where the flag flying phenomenon has spread, Big Issue spoke to Malcolm Farrow of The Flag Institute, a group of enthusiasts coming together to act as the UK’s national centre of expertise in flags and flag flying. 

Farrow’s interview with Big Issue was his 27th of the week and his fellow experts in vexillology have been doing plenty too. Such is the public interest that the matter has garnered. 

He’s a big fan of the flag-raising frenzy and believes it can be a tool for unity. 

“Fundamentally, I like it. I think it’s great. I think it says that we, the people, have very definitely rediscovered and taken back our flags,” said Farrow, who has been president of the group for more than two decades. 

“A flag is nothing more than a symbol. That’s all it is. Humanity, ever since the dawn of time, we have needed symbols. One tribe would have, one on a pole. Another tribe would have something else to identify who they are and that’s all a flag is. It identifies us as this nation, these people, and the great thing about them is we are now a very diverse nation.  

“Now there is a need for a degree of nation building, bringing people together who are initially of different cultures and backgrounds. Having a symbol which you can go and hold the hand of your neighbour whose language you can’t speak because they just arrived, and you can look up together and say: that is our symbol. That’s yours as much as mine. We are equal under that symbol. That’s a great common bond, isn’t it? It’s a good start. I think they serve a profound cultural purpose.” 

Read more:

• St George’s Day: Why we mustn’t let Englishness be hijacked by the far-right
• Asylum seekers can stay at Epping hotel after government overturns court ruling
• Tom Daley: ‘For people around the Commonwealth, seeing that Pride flag is a sign of safety’

To treat flag-flying with some “respect and dignity”, it takes a little bit more than spray painting a red cross on a wall. 

Farrow said flags should be clean, in good repair and hoisted properly, like “putting on a smart suit”. 

It’s not as simple as hoisting it and forgetting about it either. Flags need to be maintained to avoid getting tatty or dirty, they’re a “bit like puppies at Christmas”, as Farrow put it. 

Council permission is usually required to put a flag up in a public place. There’s been a mixed reception from local authorities across England. 

For example, Tory Rob Waltham, the leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said roundabout paintings would be removed on the grounds of road safety. He added: “Flying our national flags should never be something anyone feels shame in but nor must it be something that becomes divisive or which breaches the law.” 

Reform-led Worcestershire County Council reportedly instructed workers not to remove flags from lampposts or roundabouts, with council leader Joanne Monk telling the BBC: “I don’t agree with the flags being associated purely with [the right wing]. That’s the right-wing people that have done that – I am definitely not right wing, but I’m definitely a patriot.” 

In Derbyshire, there was a split. The Reform-led Derbyshire County Council’s stance was that flags would only be removed if they posed a safety risk. The Labour-run Derby City Council urged the public not to paint on roundabouts.  

But it’s not the first time that flags in Britain have been hijacked for unsavoury purposes. 

Farrow recalls the past association with the Union Jack and the National Front back in the Sixties and Seventies, arguing that flags were so seldom seen back then that it created a void for the far-right to exploit. 

The association with the St George’s flag is more recent and carries a connection to sporting events – as the outpouring of patriotism around this summer’s win for England at the Women’s Euros showed – and the ‘English disease’ of football hooliganism. 

Paul Jackson, professor in the history of radicalism and extremism at the University of Northampton, told Big Issue that the use of flags is by no means exclusive to the far-right but it is “a part of their repertoire” as evidenced by appearances from the British Union of Fascists to the English Defence League.

“I think it’s quite an effective dog whistle as much as anything,” said Jackson on the wave of flags currently appearing around England.

“I suppose there’s also a sense of to what extent do these really represent a widespread sentiment or are they quite a cheap and effective way for a small, very vocal minority to articulate certain things in an ambiguous manner with a degree of plausible deniability about what they’re really trying to say with these sorts of gestures.”

Farrow told Big Issue he does have concerns about the current phenomenon even if fluttering flags brighten his day. 

He also has a novel perspective on how to overcome the sinister undertones: drown them out. 

“I do understand a bit of the worry because there are still extremists out there and they did, in the past, hijack the flag and they go on using it,” said Farrow. 

“But the way, I say, to put them in their place is if everybody else is using it, they’re not going to be noticed because everybody’s using it. It’s the old phrase: use it or lose it. Well, we didn’t use it in the past, and we sort of lost it. We are now using it so we’re not going to lose it again. So in principle, I’m in favour.” 

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