British flags clash as foreign banners fly, citizens push back on Britain waking up

LONDON: A battle over British identity and the country’s flag is just the latest issue set to widen Britain’s political divide in 2025. As the Labor government faces mounting criticism over a range of issues, from its crackdown on freedom of speech to its migration policies, many Britons are concerned about the future of their country.

The issue continued to simmer last summer, amid concerns about a growing rift between ruling elites and the public around the country’s flag. The debate, which had been going on for several years, has been revived since anti-Israel protests broke out following Hamas’ massive terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, when Britain saw a proliferation of Palestinian flags across the country.

Tensions were further heightened by the display of Palestinian flags on public buildings, with critics claiming this represents an abandonment of traditional British values, and that immigrant communities dictate community values. Several municipalities in major cities succumbed to public pressure. Those cities – all with significant immigrant communities – included Sheffield, PrestonBradford and others chose to raise the Palestinian flag last month in honor of the United Nations’ International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

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Brazier calls for a “strategy of national cohesion” with a ban on foreign flags on taxpayer-funded buildings. He said Britain must follow the American model of nation-building as Britain grapples with “imported disintegration” and tries to return to Britain’s core values.

Current GOV.UK The guidance indicated that councils should give priority to the Union flag.

The flag of the United Kingdom and the flag of St. George hang from lampposts in Birmingham. During Operation Raise the Colors, Union and St George’s Cross flags were flown and painted as part of a British campaign. Sunday September 14, 2025. (Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)

In August, a group of concerned citizens launched ‘Operation Raise the Colours’, calling on people to hang their flag where they live and rally around British people in their daily lives. The online movement encouraged Britons to continue flying the English flags St. George’s Cross and Union Jack.

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Yet the sudden resurgence of British and English flags has been met with suspicion and criticism from the left, with many angry at the spread of the flags and complaining that they represent anti-migration and far-right sentiments.

Critics warn that Britain is becoming increasingly divided – so much so that it is considered controversial to raise the Union flag in public – and parts of the country appear increasingly concerned about causes taking place thousands of miles from the border.

Anti-Israel demonstrators hold a banner during a protest against the Jewish state in London, UK in December 2023. (Andy Soloman/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images.)

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The controversy over the flags continued after Prime Minister Keir Starmer recognized a Palestinian state in September. A few days later, Starmer gave an impassioned speech at the Labor Party’s annual conference, as his centre-left party pushed back against critics who said they had abandoned patriotism.

Speaking to waving supporters, Starmer sought to recall his party’s patriotic roots, urging a cheering crowd: “Let’s raise all our flags, conference, because they are our flags, they belong to all of us and we will never surrender them… And with determination, with respect, with the flag in our hands, we will renew this country.” He also made it clear that the flag was for all citizens, noting: “Our flags fly proudly as we celebrate differences and fight racism.”

Yet opposition politicians were quick to dismiss Starmer’s flag speech, with one MP, Lee Anderson, head of Reform, saying: “You’re more likely to see a Labor member flying the flag of Palestine than the flag of St George. That tells you all you need to know,” the Daily Telegraph reported.

Delegates wave flags as Sir Keir Starmer, British Prime Minister and leader of the Labor Party, delivers his speech after several standing ovations at the 2025 Labor Party Conference on September 30, 2025 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. (Andrew Aitchison / In photos via Getty Images)

However, this issue is also seen as a symbol of power shifting. Brazier lamented the government’s indifferent attitude to immigration, saying that “importing 10 million people in 25 years has a disastrous impact.”

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According to a March 2025 report from the Muslim Council of BritainBetween 2011 and 2021, the country’s Muslim population increased by 1.2 million, with the total number of Muslims making up around 6% of the UK population.

A recent one YouGov study found mixed opinions about the Union flag and the English flag of St. George. 58% of Labor voters in 2024 view the English flag as a racist symbol, but only 19% of Conservative voters and 8% of Reform voters feel the same. The poll shows that a majority of ethnic minority adults (55%) believe those who fly the St George’s flag do so “usually as a way of expressing anti-migrant and/or anti-ethnic minority sentiments”, while a majority (41%) say the same is true of the union flag.

It also found that “white adults are also likely to believe that anti-migrant/minority motivations are behind the flag-raising in the first place, with 49% saying this for the English flag and 39% for the British one.”

A British Union flag flies from a souvenir stall near the Houses of Parliament in London, UK, on ​​Monday, October 27, 2025. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Another finding from the YouGov survey found that people of Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent were “most likely to see racist sentiments in the flags.” This is particularly evident when it comes to the belief that the English flag has become a racist symbol, with 68% of Pakistani/Bengali adults believing this, compared to 54% of those of mixed ethnicity, 51% of those of Indian heritage and 43% of black adults.”