NUNTIATORIA

Reclaiming the Ordinary: England’s Flags and the Meaning of Public Symbols

The Controversy
Across England in the summer of 2025, national flags appeared in striking new prominence. The Cross of St George and the Union Flag were suddenly visible on lampposts, bridges, mini-roundabouts, and shopfronts. This surge was coordinated under the name Operation Raise the Colours, a grassroots campaign urging citizens to reclaim the ordinary presence of national flags in everyday life. Supporters stress that their aim is simple: to make national symbols as normal on the high street as they are at sporting events or civic commemorations.¹

Yet the display of flags has provoked a sharp backlash. Some councils have removed them from lampposts and street furniture, citing highway regulations and safety standards.² Certain media outlets and activist organisations have gone further, suggesting that the campaign is motivated by xenophobia or linked to extremist politics.³ This conflation is gravely unjust. To tar ordinary men and women with accusations of racism because they love their country’s flag is both defamatory and corrosive of civic trust.

The Legal Background
The law on flag-flying in England is clear. Under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007, many national flags may be flown without planning permission, provided that conditions on size, placement, and number are met.⁴ Guidance issued by the Department for Levelling Up confirms that the Union Flag, St George’s Cross, the flags of Scotland and Wales, and certain others may be displayed freely on private property.⁵

Public lampposts, however, fall under the Highways Act 1980. Section 132 prohibits the unauthorised attachment of items to highway structures.⁶ Councils may therefore remove flags affixed to lampposts without consent. In practice, many authorities operate permit schemes for banners on pre-designated “banner columns” that have been structurally tested to bear wind-load stress.⁷ Temporary permissions are often granted for civic festivals, remembrance commemorations, or coronations.⁸ This explains why some installations have been removed: not because the flags were English, but because they were placed on street furniture without lawful approval.

The Motives of Raise the Colours
Supporters of Operation Raise the Colours emphasise that their purpose is neither political nor partisan. Their stated mission is to normalise patriotic display, to dispel the stigma that has grown around the Cross of St George, and to demonstrate unity rather than division.⁹ The campaign grew visibly after the widespread flag-waving during the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025, when English victory saw towns and cities festooned in red and white.¹⁰

Government ministers have echoed this reading. Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch publicly condemned councils that ordered removals of St George’s flags as “shameful,” affirming that national flags should be “flown proudly.”¹¹ Likewise, Robert Jenrick has insisted that there must not be double standards whereby English flags are torn down while political or international flags are permitted to fly without hindrance.¹²

Accusations and Exploitation
Despite these plainly expressed motives, certain campaigners and media voices have sought to link the flag-flying to the far right. Organisations such as Hope Not Hate and Stand Up to Racism allege that the campaign coincides with anti-immigration protests and risks intimidating minority communities.¹³ Reuters reported that in some areas, such as Tower Hamlets, members of immigrant communities expressed discomfort at the sudden proliferation of flags.¹⁴

It is true that notorious figures—among them Tommy Robinson and Britain First—have attempted to associate themselves with the campaign.¹⁵ But opportunistic endorsement by extremists does not establish that the movement itself is extremist. To suggest otherwise is to commit the fallacy of guilt by association. Such reasoning collapses legitimate expressions of civic pride into a caricature of nationalism, alienating thousands of ordinary citizens whose motives are innocent and inclusive.

Councils and Civic Equality
The real issue is one of equal treatment under neutral rules. Councils are entitled to enforce highway safety and planning law, but they must do so consistently. Citizens will naturally resent seeing national flags removed from lampposts while other symbols—whether for commercial promotions or political causes—are tolerated. The remedy is not selective suppression but transparent processes: clear permits for temporary civic displays, and equal application of rules regardless of the message or cause.

Conclusion: Patriotism without Apology
National flags belong to the whole people. They are not the property of any faction, still less of extremist groups. To love one’s country and to fly its symbols is natural, honourable, and unifying. Attempts to stigmatise patriotism as “racism” are profoundly damaging to civic life and sow needless division. Where rules of highway law are breached, flags may be removed or applications regularised. But to criminalise the affection of ordinary men and women for their nation’s banner is intolerable.

Operation Raise the Colours reminds us that symbols matter. They can be twisted by those who hate, but they can also bind together those who love. To deny a people their own flag is to deny them their own identity. The just and British answer is fair enforcement, open channels for permission, and above all, charity toward one’s neighbour. 🔝

¹ Reuters, “England flags spark pride and concern amid anti-immigration protests,” 27 Aug 2025.
² The Independent, “Councils remove unauthorised England flags from lampposts and street furniture,” 27 Aug 2025.
³ The Guardian, “Britain’s far right emboldened by migration and nationalism,” 24 Aug 2025.
⁴ Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007, SI 2007/783.
⁵ Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, Flying Flags: A Plain English Guide, updated 20 Jul 2021.
⁶ Highways Act 1980, s.132.
⁷ Hampshire County Council, Banner Consent Guidance, 2023.
⁸ Lancashire County Council, Street Lighting Column Attachments Policy, 2024.
⁹ Operation Raise the Colours statement of aims, cited in Wikipedia summary (accessed Aug 2025).
¹⁰ Reuters, op. cit.
¹¹ The Sun, “Kemi Badenoch blasts ‘shameful’ councils for ripping down St George’s flags,” 28 Aug 2025.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ The Guardian, op. cit.
¹⁴ Reuters, op. cit.
¹⁵ Wikipedia, Operation Raise the Colours, citing press reports Aug 2025.