Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Rip the flags down! A call for action!

470 replies

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:46

The sudden appearance of the English flag hung on lamp posts, railings etc has absolutely sickened me, and my dd.
I am proud to be British, but the misappropriation of the flag by thugs, intending to intimidate, is absolutely not acceptable in a diverse society.
So tonight myself and my adult dd ripped them down in our area, and tomorrow we will be going on a flag hunt, to rip down any more we find.
I would strongly urge those of you that feel the same way, to also remove them, as long as you feel safe and comfortable to do it.
Posting in AIBU for traffic.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
FirstNationsEnglish · 25/08/2025 19:03

How rude to rip down an English flag in England.

SanityLeftTheChat · 25/08/2025 19:03

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

KnittyNell · 25/08/2025 19:02

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 19:00

You DO know this is an anonymous forum?
And you are aware how uncomfortable the sudden proliferation of the flag appearing everywhere has made people of colour feel?
Or do you just not care?

Funnily enough most of the posts on this thread posted by non white people say they are very happy to see the flags up and flying!

Ballykeelover · 25/08/2025 19:01

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 19:00

You DO know this is an anonymous forum?
And you are aware how uncomfortable the sudden proliferation of the flag appearing everywhere has made people of colour feel?
Or do you just not care?

do you have any idea how dangerous it might be to take flags down?

Catpiece · 25/08/2025 19:01

You’re going to have a queue of XL bully owners up your path later…Good luck with that

GleisZwei · 25/08/2025 19:01

Oh OP, you've been well and truly brainwashed. A flag is a flag, nothing more.

TwoTuesday · 25/08/2025 19:00

I doubt you're "proud to be British" when you're happy to chuck the flag in your wheelie bin, regardless of your presumptions about who has put them up. But crack on, if it makes you happy.

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 19:00

Sskka · 25/08/2025 18:56

No, we wanted a picture of you, silly! How is anyone to know what a good person you are if you do it all anonymously?!

You DO know this is an anonymous forum?
And you are aware how uncomfortable the sudden proliferation of the flag appearing everywhere has made people of colour feel?
Or do you just not care?

OP posts:
2dogsandabudgie · 25/08/2025 19:00

Is that your recycling bin because none of that looks recyclable. The bin men would refuse to take that where I live.

HomelessAngua · 25/08/2025 18:59

Lovely to see people supporting England Red Roses and the Women's RWC.

vodkaredbullgirl · 25/08/2025 18:59

Oh dear

prawncocktail78 · 25/08/2025 18:59

If our flag was more widely used and flown then racists wouldn’t be able to claim it.
Ripping them down surely only backs up the feeling that they can’t fly ‘their’ flag and perpetuates the situation.
Better would be for the flag to be more widely used. If a St George’s cross was flown more widely it would normalise it and not allow anyone to use it to intimidate

exasperatedflatmate · 25/08/2025 18:59

@ayepeckingi expect, like me, OP has a multiplicity of things which make her feel patriotic - music, poetry,
British sporting and scientific endeavour, to name a few - and doesn’t need the empty gesture of a polyester flag to bolster that sense of patriotism

UsernameMcUsername · 25/08/2025 18:58

Sigh. Or you could just leave it be on the basis this will burn itself out (I doubt the flaggers have the energy to keep maintaining & replacing flags over the long haul). I find the Progress Pride/ Trans flag highly irritating as I think it promotes dangerous woo which harms women, but I just roll my eyes & get on with my life.

Stonewallslemon · 25/08/2025 18:57

You sound unhinged

LeonMccogh · 25/08/2025 18:57

Sskka · 25/08/2025 18:56

No, we wanted a picture of you, silly! How is anyone to know what a good person you are if you do it all anonymously?!

Especially if OP happens to have an England flag that they’ve just perched on top of some recycling for a photo op 😂

TangibleLemon · 25/08/2025 18:57

I know I'm missing the point here but bleurgh please clean your wheelie bin. Also I'm not sure flags are recyclable 🤔

ayepecking · 25/08/2025 18:56

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:46

The sudden appearance of the English flag hung on lamp posts, railings etc has absolutely sickened me, and my dd.
I am proud to be British, but the misappropriation of the flag by thugs, intending to intimidate, is absolutely not acceptable in a diverse society.
So tonight myself and my adult dd ripped them down in our area, and tomorrow we will be going on a flag hunt, to rip down any more we find.
I would strongly urge those of you that feel the same way, to also remove them, as long as you feel safe and comfortable to do it.
Posting in AIBU for traffic.

Why has your country's flag (I assume you are either English or living in England) sickened you and your poor daughter?

Sskka · 25/08/2025 18:56

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:52

There you go

No, we wanted a picture of you, silly! How is anyone to know what a good person you are if you do it all anonymously?!

exasperatedflatmate · 25/08/2025 18:55

Most are flying weirdly at half mast on the lampposts so I don’t doubt OP is able to reach them. I reckon a broom waved upwards would probably do the job.

CreepyCoupe · 25/08/2025 18:55

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:52

There you go

In that case, well done! 👏

But I’d suggest the people that are displaying flags are not the type you might want to upset, what with the single figure IQs and all.

Ballykeelover · 25/08/2025 18:55

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:52

There you go

I’m trying to word this politely.

Are you aware of the sensitivities around flags in certain parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

Do you have any idea what happens to people who rip down the other side’s flags?

DoubleBoubles · 25/08/2025 18:55

I don’t agree with what the flags represent but it is highly emotive. I certainly wouldn’t go ripping them down, especially with my daughter. You are potentially putting yourself and your daughter in a dangerous situation if people see you doing it. Maybe think about your daughter’s safety before you start playing at being a cop!

Ilovemychocolate · 25/08/2025 18:54

SanityLeftTheChat · 25/08/2025 18:52

I hope you aren't going onto people's property to rip down ones in their gardens or on their houses.

Obviously not, we took them down from public areas.

OP posts:
Toothfairyat230 · 25/08/2025 18:54

Why does a flag sicken you? That seems like a very disproportionate and extreme reaction.

How do you know that the display of flags constitutes “misappropriation of the flag by thugs”?

Swipe left for the next trending thread