The grassroots movement Operation Raise the Colors, which started in Birmingham, has since spread to Norwich, Bradford, Newcastle, Swindon, and London—among other towns and cities. The patriotic organization is encouraging people in the UK to fly their Union Jacks and St. George’s Crosses and be proud of their country as a protest against the leftist liberal agenda.
Flags have appeared on lampposts and motorway bridges and have even been painted onto roundabouts.
However, as quickly as the banners go up, local councils are taking them down, often citing health and safety concerns. Birmingham’s Labour-run council, for example, claimed flags fixed 25 feet in the air put "motorists and pedestrians at risk." The same authority has allowed Palestinian flags to remain in place since 7 October 2023, and even lit the city library in Pakistani colors for Independence Day.
Tower Hamlets in East London, run by the pro-Gaza Aspire Party, has also promised to strip Union Jacks and St. George’s Crosses from council infrastructure "as soon as possible." Officials there acted far faster to remove British flags than they did Palestinian ones.
These progressive councils are sheltering criminals and immigrants and trying to take down the symbol of resistance against their agenda. In some districts, flying your own banner could even lead to serious injuries. A video shared on X shows activists attacked by petrol bombs that were thrown at them and their cars for raising the colors in their neighborhood.
Dorset has now become another flashpoint. Nick Ireland, the Liberal Democrat leader of Dorset Council, warned that the flag campaign was "intimidating" some residents.
"It would be naive to pretend otherwise that the St. George’s flag has been co-opted by certain far-Right groups to promote their agendas," he told the BBC. Ireland criticized roundabouts in Weymouth and Portland being painted with red crosses, calling it "targeted vandalism" and warning that defacing road markings was "dangerous" and could distract drivers. He also said the campaign is "hijacked by people whose views, for me, are completely unacceptable."
The idiocy goes even further on the Left. Black studies professor Kehinde Andrews declared on national television that the St. George’s Cross "represents racism" and is tied to colonialism and oppression.
The campaign of Operation Raise the Colours continues to gather momentum online and on the ground. In Newark, Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, joined in by hoisting Union flags in his constituency earlier this week. Supporters argue that Operation Raise the Colours is about reclaiming pride in national identity. "Over the last few weeks, a genuinely grassroots movement has sprung up, led by Brits who are tired of being told they should hate their country and their culture," organizers say.
This sentiment has been recognized Europe-wide. The Great British National Protest page shared a video on social media, where several Irish flags can be seen, hoisted in the manner of many in the UK. About 20-30 flags are flown in the area where the video is captured. The caption reads, "This is catching on around the globe ... Be proud of where you are from. Don’t let anyone make you feel bad for being born where you were."
A post on X also confirms the emergence of this movement in Germany. The short video shows individuals hoisting a German flag above a highway as a way to show their support for their country in times when being patriotic is seen as something people should be ashamed of—and potentially even a crime.
In parallel to the display of patriotic flags across the British Isles, clashes erupted outside migrant hotels as immigration protests continued nationwide. Demonstrations under the "Abolish Asylum System" banner, opposing the housing of asylum seekers in hotels, took place in dozens of towns and cities. Counter-protesters confronted them, sparking scuffles in Bristol, Horley, Liverpool, Perth, and Newcastle.
The unrest began earlier this summer in Epping, after an Ethiopian asylum seeker was accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. On Tuesday, Epping Forest District Council secured a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel by 12 September. The Home Secretary plans to appeal the ruling, warning it could set a precedent for legal challenges that undermine government migration policy.