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Original poster

To think England flags are intimidating?

201 replies

Nikki7506 · 07/09/2025 09:09

Let me start by saying I LOVE MY COUNTRY!🥰🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
I am an Army veteran. I fly a tonne of flags for St Georges Day, major sporting tournaments, Royal occasions because I love the monarchy!! I'm the only person on my street who bothers to get the flags and bunting out, although, there is one other house on the next road who does too👍
Woke up one morning to find England flags all the way down the street. They were well high up on the lamp posts. I couldn't reach them so I complained to the council. I feel like I'm living in an EDL rally. The council finally sent an email saying they had removed the flags but they hadn't. They were still there.
So I decided to fly two pride flags from the lamp posts opposite my house. Before the end of the day an angry GAMMON 😡 ripped them down with such vigour I thought he might have a heart attack.
It made me really sad because to me the pride flag is a symbol of acceptance and kindness to everyone LGTBQ+, disabilities and everyone who is neither white nor English!!🏳️‍🌈
So I have to look at their flags (and its not the flag, the reason they're flying them is because Nigel wants everyone to hate immigrants and they are happy to use the England flag as a dog whistle ) but I can't fly mine😡
Am I being too upset by this? I'm seriously thinking of using a water gun with food dye in it. We have a diverse community here💖 The other day a man said hello to me in mandarin with his little toddler on his shoulders and it was lovely🌈 I don't just want to cut my neighbours loose and keep quiet😔 they are lovely people who deserve respect.
This feels like a Trump/Farage takeover😡
This sudden display of patriotism (Flag shagging) from folks who don't normally bother is a worry😬

OP posts:
localnotail · 07/09/2025 16:57

The13thFairy · 07/09/2025 15:38

And the Pride flags in Regent Street, London. Intimidating - and, I think, intended to be.

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As someone who is boringly straight and ordinary, I feel I'm very much excluded from the whole Pride thing. For me, sex, orientation and pronouns are very much at the bottom of my priorities/ interests in life and I feel like I have no place in the whole rainbow situation as I simply would not fit in. But I cant say I feel intimidated - I simply feel like its nothing to do with me at all.

Bedheadbeachbum · 07/09/2025 17:00

Tbh it reminds me of Brexit, remember all the Ukip stuff around this time? Flags and so on.

So when I see an England flag I now think, this is Brexit 2, and we all remember how that went?

I think the UK has made their feelings about borders really clear for many years, and politicians ignore that at their peril.

It's shitty to be playing god with people's lives so it's a conversation I'm very uncomfortable with, but I do know what happened when we were flying flags a number of years ago.

JumpingPumpkin · 07/09/2025 17:24

It’s interesting the OP flew Pride flags as seeing them as opposite to England flags. I have a feeling that part of the England/Union jack flag flying has come from people who aren’t represented by pride flags everywhere (or aren’t interested in Palestine) wanting to do a bit of flag flying themselves.

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 17:26

localnotail · 07/09/2025 16:50

In my view, you are only going to be intimidated in you dont consider yourself English, or dont consider you belong to this country. Its a flag of a country, not a flag of a white racist person. It needs to be owned by everyone who considers themselves English, and not made to be allowed to be seen as some sort of a far right symbol.

absolutely not,
i am english
i am intimidated by the thought of national front thugs and football hooligans.

Onlythecrumbliest · 07/09/2025 17:47

I love to see our flag flying.

I have not flown one before but now considering it. No, I am not racist or far right.

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 17:54

i am ashamed to think these ignorant thugs live in my village

usernamealreadytaken · 07/09/2025 17:55

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 17:54

i am ashamed to think these ignorant thugs live in my village

You mean the sort of homophobic misogynists who fly Pride flags?

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 17:56

usernamealreadytaken · 07/09/2025 17:55

You mean the sort of homophobic misogynists who fly Pride flags?

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there are no pride flags that i have seen

localnotail · 07/09/2025 18:01

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 17:26

absolutely not,
i am english
i am intimidated by the thought of national front thugs and football hooligans.

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Of course you would be intimidated by criminal elements but England flag is not their flag, its a flag of a country. I do understand that certain elements make it all about racism etc - but it should not be allowed, it should not be owned by these people.

LakieLady · 07/09/2025 18:05

PermanentTemporary · 07/09/2025 10:47

Agree. It’s aggressive and intimidating and it’s meant to be. It’s aggressive in other countries too. I don’t see what to do about it, because the reaction to even making comments about it is aggressive (as seen on this thread).

I’m with Billy Bragg in wanting to reclaim the flag from people who are using it to intimidate, to use it instead as a sign of welcome and a reminder to be open, but at the moment I don’t even want to do that.

That perfectly sums up how I feel, too.

It feels like the fucking 1970s again, when the National Front were organising and marching. I thought my demo days were long over, but despite being fucking ancient I'm seriously considering going on the anti-racist rally next weekend.

LakieLady · 07/09/2025 18:08

localnotail · 07/09/2025 16:50

In my view, you are only going to be intimidated in you dont consider yourself English, or dont consider you belong to this country. Its a flag of a country, not a flag of a white racist person. It needs to be owned by everyone who considers themselves English, and not made to be allowed to be seen as some sort of a far right symbol.

I disagree. I feel intimidated by far-right racists, and the Venn diagram of flag-hangers and far-right racists has a significant overlap imo.

EzLife · 07/09/2025 18:11

Get over yourself…🙄

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 18:17

EzLife · 07/09/2025 18:11

Get over yourself…🙄

who are you aiming this at?

AcquadiP · 07/09/2025 18:19

mackers1 · 07/09/2025 15:19

As a brown person, born and raised here, I do not find the flags intimidating or offensive. I have no reason to believe that I do not belong here so do not find them intimidating. I cannot see any situation why I would feel intimidated/offended by the flag of a country I am in.

The problem seems to be the lack of flags flying beforehand. So, just let them be and they will blend into the background.

👏 👏 👏

wldpwr · 07/09/2025 18:20

RobustPastry · 07/09/2025 09:34

Some very naive posters on here. Wake up. The St George’s flags are being put up by organised racist groups to intimidate at the moment. Territorial pissing.

The white road markings and the white street furniture getting red crosses painted on to them is the same racist vandalism which is designed to ‘mark territory’. It’s disgusting.

THIS

AcquadiP · 07/09/2025 18:25

BettysRoasties · 07/09/2025 13:57

A lot of them being put up are by groups rather than local residents though have funding via residents.

However the only way to claim the flag back from racism is to use the flag rather than hide the flag and be offended by it. If everyone treated it as just another flag like any other country it wouldn’t be able to be held captive by those who use it for racist reasons.

So on that basis I’m all for the flags. Fly them high and proud (not the round about shit) have them as bin stickers and painted rocks like the Welsh and Scottish and don’t let it be an offensive item let it just be a flag.

Couldn't agree more.

CherryOakAsh · 07/09/2025 18:28

StaringAtTheWater · 07/09/2025 10:05

I actually agree with you OP. Not because the flag itself is offensive, but it's not our cultural norm to hang our country's flag up day to day (we are not Americans!!)

The cultural norm is to hang flags up only during big sporting events (e.g. England flags during big football tournaments) and for national royal events like coronations, royal weddings etc (more the union flag).

How ever much people may protest to the contrary, this deviation from the cultural norm is being driven by a nasty nationalistic, racist undercurrent. And I don't like it.

This is exactly how I feel as I well.

It's very unfortunate that the St George's flag was appropriated by the National Front in the 1970s and it's been used as a symbol of far-right, racist politics ever since. Sadly, I cannot view it in any other light.

I'm dismayed to see that now our Union Jack/union flag is now beginning also to be used to promote the far-right agenda.

It's not the flags themselves that are intimidating, it's the vitriolic hatred that they are being used to represent. I feel very uneasy about it all. I know if one of my neighbours were to start putting up flags, I would immediately feel less at home in my local community.

wldpwr · 07/09/2025 18:28

OchreSnail · 07/09/2025 12:26

I hate them. We've got flags ziptied to lampposts in several streets round here. I'm white British but they make me feel very uncomfortable, so god knows how they affect others.

Saying 'it's just people being patriotic' is disingenuous - the flag (and especially flag of st George) has long been hijacked by the far right, and it's common knowledge that the current flag nonsense is being organised by people with a long history with the far right.

What's happening here is NOT the same thing as flying a flag on a public building - it's intimidating and aggressive.

Yes, exactly.

OchreSnail · 07/09/2025 18:30

localnotail · 07/09/2025 16:50

In my view, you are only going to be intimidated in you dont consider yourself English, or dont consider you belong to this country. Its a flag of a country, not a flag of a white racist person. It needs to be owned by everyone who considers themselves English, and not made to be allowed to be seen as some sort of a far right symbol.

So it "needs to be" owned by me otherwise I'm not properly English? Does it really?

This isn't being done in my name. The flags getting put up all over street lights, bridges etc aren't being put there by community- minded individuals, and it's incredibly naive or disingenuous to say that's what's happening here. It's getting like the 1970s all over again, and that's not a good look.

Nannyfannybanny · 07/09/2025 18:32

The red/white/blue flag,is a union flag,it's not a union jack,that is only on ships

AcquadiP · 07/09/2025 18:36

localnotail · 07/09/2025 18:01

Of course you would be intimidated by criminal elements but England flag is not their flag, its a flag of a country. I do understand that certain elements make it all about racism etc - but it should not be allowed, it should not be owned by these people.

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Absolutely. It's been England's flag since the Middle Ages, it doesn't belong to criminal elements. It's flown with pride at all the major Rugby Internationals: 6 Nations, The World Cup, The Women's Rugby World Cup. Rugby has no hooligan or racist element to it at all, it's a family sport open to everyone. It's time to claim the St George's back not passively allow a minority of louts to claim ownership of it.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 07/09/2025 18:38

BatchCookBabe · 07/09/2025 10:36

Yeah this. Most Palestine flags being flown, are being flown by people who couldn't even point Palestine out on a map.

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Not surprising, as Palestine doesn’t actually exist. It’s just a wish symbol

Livelovebehappy · 07/09/2025 18:39

I love the flag. I love my country. And I’m not going to apologise for that….. hope that answers your rather drawn out question………🙂

Londonismyjam · 07/09/2025 18:42

LakieLady · 07/09/2025 18:05

That perfectly sums up how I feel, too.

It feels like the fucking 1970s again, when the National Front were organising and marching. I thought my demo days were long over, but despite being fucking ancient I'm seriously considering going on the anti-racist rally next weekend.

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Me too!

OhNoNotSusan · 07/09/2025 18:45

the england flag has only been flown since the late 1990s at football matches - it was the union flag before