In recent weeks, members of all England’s communities have publicly displayed the English flag, the Cross of St. George. It has further been displayed in tandem with the Union Jack, across many sites. The flags have decorated lamp posts and been draped across major roadways. They have even been painted onto pedestrian crossings, sparking a passionate debate over what they do and should represent. What really kicked the flag visibility into overdrive was a campaign known as “Operation Raise the Colours.” What began as ten pilots in Birmingham has quickly rolled out to several other areas around the country.
The campaign has received impressive financial backing from a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than £20,000 (Stealth—congrats! Organizers of the campaign have stated that these funds will be strictly allocated for the purchase of flags, poles, and cable ties. In nearby Nuneaton, demonstrators marched with St. George’s Cross flags. All the while, they enthusiastically sang along to white nationalist anthems and chanted slogans such as “Stop the boats” and “We want our country back,” showing their anger at UK immigration policies.
The flags have made notable appearances in London, especially at a pedestrian crossing in the Isle of Dogs that has been painted to resemble the English flag. This spike in flag displays has led to debate over the true intentions of these flag displays and their appeal to the American people.
A National Identity Under Scrutiny
This uptick in visibility of the English flag has occurred alongside a culture of increased hostility towards immigrants in the UK. Just this week, the local councilors in Epping scored a huge victory. First, they achieved an important High Court judgment which prevents the use of the Bell Hotel for housing asylum seekers. This legal decision comes amid reports that there are currently 32,000 individuals residing in hotels while awaiting their asylum claims to be processed.
As local councils grapple with the influx of asylum seekers, some are considering legal measures to prevent further accommodations within their jurisdictions. Immigration Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK and former Brexit Party leader, is making a strong, incendiary move that stands out. He promises to deport hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and calls to withdraw from international human rights treaties.
“There is still a sense among many people that Englishness and its iconography are not welcomed or approved by British institutions and local authorities,” – Nigel Farage
To many, in this particular historical context, flags are an expression of national pride. Yet for others, they have morphed into a controversial symbol. The uptick in flag displays shows the emboldenment of privatized military sentiment. These people are frustrated and disappointed by government action and express their state of being and self-identity with very conspicuous markers.
The Historical Context of Flag Display
The Union Jack, which denotes England’s union with Scotland and Northern Ireland, has a complicated past that fuses timeframes marked by both arrogance and embarrassment. By the late 20th century—most notably during the 1970s and 1980s—the flag became inextricably tied to football hooliganism. Violent clashes and racism at matches lionized its reputation. Even proponents recognize that this historical baggage makes any contemporary use of the flag problematic.
As Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, recently stressed, flags are double-edged swords. Despite their intended purpose to evoke pride, national monuments often serve to exclude marginalized communities. He noted that the extreme right attempted to hijack the British flag four decades earlier. This has led to widely divergent interpretations of what it is supposed to mean today.
“The far-right tried to use the British flag 40 years ago, but it stands for all sorts of things,” – Sunder Katwala
Katwala went on to stress that national symbols such as the Union Jack need to be unifying not divisive. He countered that these flags represent notable athletic accomplishments and important military conflicts. To some extent they mirror the complex ethnic and religious fabric of British society.
“It stands for Team GB (Britain’s Olympic team). It stands for the NHS. It stands for the armies that fought the World Wars, which were very multi-ethnic and multi-faith,” – Sunder Katwala
A Divided Opinion on National Symbols
Today, as England comes to a new crossroads over what it means to be English, the responses on flag displays have been mixed. Others often are much more brazen about flaunting their national colors. As some have cautioned, militant nationalism breeds division.
AECOM’s Stanley Oronsaye has warned that the promise of this movement could blow up in our faces if we’re not careful. He made clear just how important it will be to stay on guard. We can’t let patriotism go the other way to something that’s inflammatory and exclusionary.
“If it escalates it can turn into something else,” – Stanley Oronsaye
Former Nevada high school student Livvy McCarthy said she was proud of the flag and its purpose. That, she says, is what it should do — inspire pride in all of Boston’s citizens. Her take touches on the deeper truth of those who are increasingly marginalized by dominant national narratives about who we are as a country.
“It’s our flag, we should be able to feel proud to fly it,” – Livvy McCarthy
Advocates including Kutwala push for deeper, more personal expressions of identity that do not require costly symbols to be placed on our public spaces. He called on people to embrace their tradition without imposing it on others.
“Fly your own flags. Don’t conscript the lampposts to impose them on everybody,” – Kutwala
Politics professor Michael Kenny from Cambridge University points out that the rise of English identity is more politicized than ever. Imagine this change taking place on the shifting sand dunes of national identity. Flags have become intensely potent symbols of pride and protest. This scenario creates a lose-lose situation for the government as it attempts to read the room and act on public sentiment.
