Flags flying on lampposts, crosses painted on mini roundabouts, even a tombstone defaced; a movement is sweeping the country. But is it a movement of patriotism, or does it have more sinister motives? Whatever they are, should anyone have untoward intentions with it, those intentions are not in the name of the British people.
What started it?
BBC reporters were told that “the first flags were put up in Weoley Castle’s square in response to a story in the nearby town of Rugby about a 12-year-old girl who was prevented from making a speech about being British in her school, while wearing a union jack-themed dress”.
Since then, they have been appearing on lampposts across Birmingham and the movement has spread to other cities in England as part of a backlash against the council taking them down. They also began to be painted on mini roundabouts as well.
The council reportedly took them down for safety reasons, citing that they pose a risk to traffic through distraction. They said people were free to display them on their own properties. Flag removals in the name of safety have even been carried out by the Reform UK-led Durham County Council.
Far-right hijacking
Unfortunately, the campaign know as ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ has attracted some unsavoury backers. According to the research group Hope Not Hate, a co-founder of the movement is a man with links to the far-right groups Britain First and the now defunct English Defence League.
It’s true that people like Nigel Farage and his followers do use our nation’s flags for their purposes of division. It can’t be denied that thugs filled with hate wave the Union Flag and St George’s Cross when they try to bully, intimidate and make to feel unwelcome those who have come here from abroad to make England their home. But they represent only a tiny fraction of the nation; the vast and overwhelming majority say: NOT IN OUR NAME!
Not in our name
This country does not tolerate hatred and racism. I can say with the utmost pride that my family, friends and everyone I know feels the same. I wear the flag with pride and I wear it alongside a badge that says: stop the far right, stand up to racism.
The far-right would seek to fly our flag as a means to tell people they don’t belong here, that they are not one of us. But everyone is one of us, everyone belongs here. British Values state mutual respect and tolerance. The nation wholeheartedly agrees and Britain has a proud history of fighting fascism. The far-right never wins a majority popular vote in nationwide elections and I, and may others, will keep fighting to keep that the case.
I fly the St George’s Cross not to exclude others, but to show pride in the country I live in and love. I would be a hypocrite to fly it for exclusionary reasons given I was born in Scotland, have European family and close friends who hail from abroad or have family who hail from abroad. I wear the St George’s Cross and Union Flag not just to show pride in my country but to also show that the flag belongs to all of us on the left, the centre-left and the centre ground; the progressives and those both born here and those who have come here from abroad to make England their home, no matter their race, religion, nationality or ethnicity.
I fly the flag to take it back from the far-right and send a message to everyone out there that it is the flag of a tolerant, welcoming and caring nation whose people in the majority don’t give the time of day to the politics of hatred, xenophobia or division.
If some of the flag flyers have bad intentions, they will be outdone by those of us with good intentions. But this can only happen if we come together to outdo them and not allow them to hijack our flags. For our national flags don’t represent politics, as much as politicians might like to try and make them. They represent a diverse country of all people from across the world and we must show the world that this is the case and not that they represent a tiny minority on the far-right.
