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2025 Campaign to display English and British flag
Operation Raise the Colours
England flags tied to lamp-posts and telegraph poles, Pontefract, England
Operation Raise the Colours is a 2025 campaign in Britain of displaying the Flag of England, and the Union Jack in public places. The campaign began in August 2025. It has involved tying flags to lamp-posts and painting the St. George's Cross onto mini-roundabouts.
Supporters of the campaign claim this is with the aim of promoting patriotism and that it is non-partisan, although it has been supported by several figures and organisations associated with the far-right, including fascist political party Britain First and far-right activist Tommy Robinson. Hope Not Hate has said it was co-founded by Andrew Currien, who has alleged links to Britain First.
It has seen opposition from anti-racist groups such as Stand Up to Racism, and Hope Not Hate, who argue that it is an intentional attempt by the far-right to promote their ideas, inflame tensions and intimidate immigrants, asylum seekers and other ethnic minorities at a time of rising anti-immigration sentiment in the UK.
An online campaign called Operation Raise the Colours was founded in August 2025, calling for the public display of the Saint George's Cross and the Union Jack. The stated aim of the campaign was to promote national pride and patriotism.[1][2][3][4] The campaign has involved activists tying up flags on to lamposts and street furnature,[1][2] as well being painted on to roundabouts[1][2][4]
It has been suggested that the campaign may have been formed with the support of the far-right as part of a backlash against the display of Palestinian flags as part of Gaza war protests or the decision of one local council in England, Birmingham City Council, to take down British and English flags after they were displayed on lampposts and other council owned property without permission earlier in the year.[5][6]
According to the research group Hope Not Hate, it was co-founded by Andrew Currien, otherwise known as Andy Saxon, who has alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.[7] Lewis Nielsen of the research group has said it "was never about flags, it’s about giving confidence to racists and fascists to target refugees and migrants.”[8]
A number of groups associated with the campaign have emerged across the country.[6] In Birmingham, a group called the Weoley Warriors claimed responsibility for raising flags in Weoley Castle, Northfield, Bartley Green and other nearby areas.[6][9] Another allied group called Flag Force UK claimed responsibility for raising flags across York in Yorkshire, and has also set up a live map of flags in the region.[6][10] In Worcestershire, the Wythall Flaggers launched a campaign to raise flags around Wythall.[11][12]
A spokesperson for Keir Starmer[dubious–discuss] gave an apparent endorsement of the flag-raising campaign when asked, describing the prime minister as a "patriot" who believed people should "absolutely" fly flags.[8]
Reception
Several political figures and groups, including Kemi Badenoch's Conservative Party, Nigel Farage's Reform UK and Keir Starmer's Labour Party, have welcomed and defended the flying of flags amid the campaign.[15][2][3][11]Shropshire Council, run by the Liberal Democrats, said that flags would stay up except for safety or maintenance reasons.[16] Some have questioned the true motives of the campaign after it transpired that several far-right activists and organisations, including Britain First and senior far-right activist Tommy Robinson, had supported and promoted the campaign.[5][11][4] Nick Ireland, the Liberal Democrat leader of Dorset Council, warned in August 2025 that the campaign had been "hijacked" by the far-right to promote their extremist agenda and said that flying flags could intimidate residents because of this alleged far-right association. The Socialist Worker also said the far-right had "co-opted" it.[3][4][17] Supporters of the campaign have denied links to the far-right or any racial motivation, stating that they only wish to promote patriotism and welcome the involvement of volunteers from any political, racial or ethnic backgrounds.[2][11][18]
Anti-racist organisation Stand Up to Racism expressed its opposition to the campaign and organised counter-protests against campaigners attempting to put up flags.[2] The group, citing the campaign's support by Robinson and Britain First, claims that it is an intentional attempt by the far-right to spread their ideas, inflame tensions and intimidate asylum seekers, immigrants, Muslims and other minority groups amid rising anti-immigration sentiment in the United Kingdom.[2][19][20] Anti-racist group Hope not Hate have revealed that some of the campaign's organising had been done by far-right activists.[21][22]
The campaign has been compared to the sectarianism of Northern Ireland, where different, hostile groups paint murals and raise flags to mark their territory.[23][6]
The campaign has prompted debate around the meaning of Britain's national flags, patriotism and the potential links of these flags to the far-right and racist movements.[11][6] Commenting on the campaign in August 2025, black academic Kehinde Andrews said Saint George's Cross was a "clear symbol of racism" because of its use by far-right anti-immigration activists against immigrants from the Windrush generation in the 1950s and 1960s, stating that it represents "that Britishness, Englishness, is white", whereas the flags of Scotland and Wales are not racist because these countries had historically been "oppressed" by England.[11] However, others such as black singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri have argued that the flag can be reclaimed despite its racial connotations, with Chinouriri stating that she was proud to be English and to use the flag.[11] Harry Clarke-Ezzidio of the New Statesman asked ethnic minorities in Birmingham what they thought of the campaign and the flags to a mixed response, with some expressing concern and unease while others supported the campaign and the flags.[6]
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