The symbolism of flying England flags (and why the current trend is distinctly un-British)
Monday 1 September 2025 at 10:36
Visible to anyone in the world
Yesterday I was driving home after a day out and on a street near to where I live saw a police car obstructing the road. As I slowed down to safely pass the car I noticed that it was stopped next to a lamppost and the officers were talking to three young men carrying a ladder and what looked like a box of flags.
The three young men looked exactly what you would expect flag bedeckers to look like. Plent of sharp fades, chunky jewellry and Shein two piece outfits (let’s be generous, maybe they were JD).
It certainly does seem to be the uniform of contemporary, edge-of-political activists. I wonder when they will cotton on that black shirts look an awful lot smarter?
But I degress.
With all of the talk around raising England flags from lampposts, painting them on roundabouts and zebra crossings (of all things) I’ve been thinking over the weekend about what a flag actually is? And in the case of the England flags that we are seeing everywhere, is it a sign of patriotism or intimidation?
And the answer is both startlingly simple and at the same time deeply complex.
To get a straight forward answer the easiest thing is to go to the dictionary.
Collins states that a flag is: “a piece of cloth which can be attached to a pole and which is used as a sign, signal, or symbol of something, especially of a particular country.”
Flags are abundant right now but so too are representations of the England flag graffitied throughout the public realm. And in that sense, the fact that the England flag can be easily represented confirms the dictionary definition. Our national flag is a symbol.
And that is where things get messy.
That is because a symbol is symbolic. Symbols mean different things to different people.
This time Merriam Webster defines a symbol as “something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance especially : a visible sign of something invisible.”
Using that definition we can safely arrive at the conclusion that an England flag is a visible sign of something that is invisible, that is ‘patriotism’ or ‘Englishness’.
Or, in the case of those hostile to it, historically those who have been oppressed by those adopting it, then it stands for something else. A symbol of intimidation and threat.
In recent history the Cross of St George has been adopted by groups such as the National Front and, in particular, as a symbol of hostility during the race riots of the late 1950s onward (especially during the ‘70s and ‘70s).
Faced with that sort of symbolism it is understandable that some may be wary of current events, isn’t it?
Flags can be expressions of pride, think of the pride shown by American citizens and the Stars and Stripes.
Equally they can be symbols of resistance, defiance or unity amongst oppressed communities, notably the evolution of the Pride flag.
But they can also evoke fear and hatred: the flag of Nazi Germany or the Confederate flag are clear examples.
It is hugely important to note that the symbolism of flags can evolve too.
The latter two examples were once symbols of pride and resistance before becoming socially unacceptable (although both continue to have some elements of support amongst cultural misfits).
The point that I return to is that flags are fundamentally about symbolism, and symbols are a subjective concept, because as the dictionary suggests they are ‘a visibe sign of something invisible’.
Which is why I go off on something of a tangent in the final piece of this post.
If the current wave of flags are about nothing more than patriotism, then surely we must consider what it is that we are being patriotic about?
In this respect we have the support of our sovereign parliament whose website articulates the British Values outlined in legislation and incorporated into the national curriculum, they are:
understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.
There in 6 relatively succinct points we have a summary of what Britishness is, and two of those points are explicitly about toleraton and combatting discrimination.
That is what being British is about (or at least that is how our sovereign parliament have defined it).
Accepting differences and standing up for the rights of those who are different.
So, coming back to flags, all Britains have a right to fly an England flag or a Union Jack (although there is some debate about those rights and point 2, and the rule of law). One would hope that is something the whole country can get behind, and they certainly do during sporting events or a coronation.
But, equally, we should all be mindful of the nature of symbolism and the British Values of acceptance and tolerance, because there is something fundamentally un-British about flying a flag IF it is meant to intimidate, or IF it can be perceived to be intimidatory.
Especially keeping in mind that intimidation is subjective. What may intimidate one person or group, may not be the same thing that intimidates other.
The current round of flying England flags has provably come about following protests at asylum seeker accommodation. Given the historic precedents both in other nations and in our own recent history it is difficult not to conclude there is, at least, an intimidatory aspect to it.
If we are truly proud of our nation then the patriotic thing is to be mindful of those precedents and temper the symbolism that some are currently displaying.
The symbolism of flying England flags (and why the current trend is distinctly un-British)
Yesterday I was driving home after a day out and on a street near to where I live saw a police car obstructing the road. As I slowed down to safely pass the car I noticed that it was stopped next to a lamppost and the officers were talking to three young men carrying a ladder and what looked like a box of flags.
The three young men looked exactly what you would expect flag bedeckers to look like. Plent of sharp fades, chunky jewellry and Shein two piece outfits (let’s be generous, maybe they were JD).
It certainly does seem to be the uniform of contemporary, edge-of-political activists. I wonder when they will cotton on that black shirts look an awful lot smarter?
But I degress.
With all of the talk around raising England flags from lampposts, painting them on roundabouts and zebra crossings (of all things) I’ve been thinking over the weekend about what a flag actually is? And in the case of the England flags that we are seeing everywhere, is it a sign of patriotism or intimidation?
And the answer is both startlingly simple and at the same time deeply complex.
To get a straight forward answer the easiest thing is to go to the dictionary.
Collins states that a flag is: “a piece of cloth which can be attached to a pole and which is used as a sign, signal, or symbol of something, especially of a particular country.”
Flags are abundant right now but so too are representations of the England flag graffitied throughout the public realm. And in that sense, the fact that the England flag can be easily represented confirms the dictionary definition. Our national flag is a symbol.
And that is where things get messy.
That is because a symbol is symbolic. Symbols mean different things to different people.
This time Merriam Webster defines a symbol as “something that stands for or suggests something else by reason of relationship, association, convention, or accidental resemblance especially : a visible sign of something invisible.”
Using that definition we can safely arrive at the conclusion that an England flag is a visible sign of something that is invisible, that is ‘patriotism’ or ‘Englishness’.
Or, in the case of those hostile to it, historically those who have been oppressed by those adopting it, then it stands for something else. A symbol of intimidation and threat.
In recent history the Cross of St George has been adopted by groups such as the National Front and, in particular, as a symbol of hostility during the race riots of the late 1950s onward (especially during the ‘70s and ‘70s).
Faced with that sort of symbolism it is understandable that some may be wary of current events, isn’t it?
Flags can be expressions of pride, think of the pride shown by American citizens and the Stars and Stripes.
Equally they can be symbols of resistance, defiance or unity amongst oppressed communities, notably the evolution of the Pride flag.
But they can also evoke fear and hatred: the flag of Nazi Germany or the Confederate flag are clear examples.
It is hugely important to note that the symbolism of flags can evolve too.
The latter two examples were once symbols of pride and resistance before becoming socially unacceptable (although both continue to have some elements of support amongst cultural misfits).
The point that I return to is that flags are fundamentally about symbolism, and symbols are a subjective concept, because as the dictionary suggests they are ‘a visibe sign of something invisible’.
Which is why I go off on something of a tangent in the final piece of this post.
If the current wave of flags are about nothing more than patriotism, then surely we must consider what it is that we are being patriotic about?
In this respect we have the support of our sovereign parliament whose website articulates the British Values outlined in legislation and incorporated into the national curriculum, they are:
understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process;
an appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety;
an understanding that there is a separation of power between the executive and the judiciary, and that while some public bodies such as the police and the army can be held to account through Parliament, others such as the courts maintain independence;
an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law;
an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour; and
an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination.
There in 6 relatively succinct points we have a summary of what Britishness is, and two of those points are explicitly about toleraton and combatting discrimination.
That is what being British is about (or at least that is how our sovereign parliament have defined it).
Accepting differences and standing up for the rights of those who are different.
So, coming back to flags, all Britains have a right to fly an England flag or a Union Jack (although there is some debate about those rights and point 2, and the rule of law). One would hope that is something the whole country can get behind, and they certainly do during sporting events or a coronation.
But, equally, we should all be mindful of the nature of symbolism and the British Values of acceptance and tolerance, because there is something fundamentally un-British about flying a flag IF it is meant to intimidate, or IF it can be perceived to be intimidatory.
Especially keeping in mind that intimidation is subjective. What may intimidate one person or group, may not be the same thing that intimidates other.
The current round of flying England flags has provably come about following protests at asylum seeker accommodation. Given the historic precedents both in other nations and in our own recent history it is difficult not to conclude there is, at least, an intimidatory aspect to it.
If we are truly proud of our nation then the patriotic thing is to be mindful of those precedents and temper the symbolism that some are currently displaying.