Operation Raise the Colours is a 2025 campaign group in the United Kingdom that advocates the displaying the Union Flag and the Saint George's Cross in public places, as well as the flags of the other constituent countries of the UK. The campaign began in August 2025 and has particularly aroused controversy around the Flag of England due to its history of use by anti-immigration nationalists. It has involved tying flags to lampposts and painting them onto mini-roundabouts.
Anti-racist campaigning groups such as Stand Up to Racism, and Hope Not Hate have expressed opposition to the movement. They 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'. According to Hope Not Hate, Raise the Colours was co-founded by Andrew Currien, who has alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.
Campaign
Origins in England
An online campaign called Operation Raise the Colours was founded in August 2025, calling for the public display of the Union Jack and the flags of the four nations of the United Kingdom.[1] The stated aim of the campaign was to promote national pride and patriotism.[2][1][3][4] The campaign has involved activists tying up flags on to lampposts and street furniture,[2][1] as well being painted on to mini-roundabouts and zebra crossings.[2][1][4][5]
According to the advocacy group Hope Not Hate, the campaign was co-founded by Andrew Currien, otherwise known as Andy Saxon, who has alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.[6] Lewis Nielsen of Stand up to Racism has said it "was never about flags, it’s about giving confidence to racists and fascists to target refugees and migrants.”[7]
A number of groups associated with the campaign have emerged across the country.[8] In Birmingham, a group called the Weoley Warriors claimed responsibility for raising flags in Weoley Castle, Northfield, Bartley Green and other nearby areas.[8][9] Another group installing flags in south Birmingham and north Worcestershire is being run by two men from Bromsgrove, Ryan Bridge and Eliott Stanley, who are "co-founders and company directors of Raise the Colours".[10] 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.[8][11] In Worcestershire, the Wythall Flaggers launched a campaign to raise flags around Wythall.[12][13]
By September 2025, the movement had spread to Scotland and Wales, with the Red Dragon, Saltire and Lion Rampant, the flag of Wales and the flag and royal banner of Scotland, being raised there in a similar fashion alongside the Union Jack.[14][15][16][17]
In Scotland, occurrences were located in areas such as Falkirk, Maryhill and Tollcross in Glasgow, as well as Peterhead, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.[14][17] In Glasgow, the flags were raised by a group called the Tartan Team, which is part of the Operation Raise the Colours movement and is co-run by Kieran Logan, who was reported by the Daily Record to have made racist posts on his social media.[17][18]
Several local councils, including Birmingham City Council, City of York Council and Tower Hamlets London Borough Council among others, have taken down the flags, citing safety concerns and a lack of permission to fly these on council property.[8][24] Others, including Basildon Borough Council, Harlow District Council, Lancashire County Council and several others, have supported the flags and ordered council staff not to take any down, defending it as an expression of patriotism.[25][26] In Scotland, councils reported that their staff had faced abuse when they tried to take down flags, while anti-racism campaigners in Glasgow said they experienced death threats when taking them down.[27][17] In Maidenhead, a man was arrested for a racially or religiously aggravated public order offence after he abused council workers removing a flag.[28]York Central MP Rachael Maskell reported that workers removing flags had been assaulted and that a death threat had appeared on the city walls.[29]
In some areas local residents have grouped together to remove the flags themselves. In Faversham a group called Faversham Against Racism formed and flyered for a planned "community clean up" to "de-flag" the town.[30] In York a group called the International Flagging Committee raised money through donations to buy flags from across the world, aiming to create "a cityscape that looks like we are hosting the next Olympics".[31] In Caerphilly, South Wales, a road bridge in Pontllanfraith was decorated with flags from countries from across the world.[31]
As well as raising flags and painting roundabouts, the campaign has also led to other acts of vandalism. These have included painting the flag of England in Wales: in Llandudno roundabouts and shop windows were painted,[32] and in Henllys and Cwmbran local people turned out to scrub graffiti from signs and bus stops.[33][34]
On 4 October a mosque in Peacehaven was set alight by masked arsonists. Speaking to BBC News about the attack, the Brighton and Hove branch of Stand Up to Racism said it had occurred within the context of Raise The Colours and other vandalism locally, "for a number of weeks now, racist and fascist groups... have been whipping up an atmosphere of hatred and intimidation against black and Asian people across the South Sussex coast with flags, stickers and racist graffiti".[39]
In a radio interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, Keir Starmer stated: "I'm very encouraging of flags. I think they're patriotic and I think they're a great symbol of our nation." He also said: "I don't think they should be devalued and belittled. I think sometimes when they're used purely for divisive purposes, actually it devalues the flag."[42] He later said to The Guardian that the St George's flag "represents our diverse country" and that he would not tolerate people being "intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin".[43]
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.[24][12][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][44] 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.[1][12][45]
Anti-racist organisation Stand Up to Racism expressed its opposition to the campaign and organised counter-protests against campaigners attempting to put up flags.[1] 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.[1][46][47] Anti-racist group Hope not Hate have said that some of the campaign's organising had been implemented by far-right activists.[48][49]
The campaign has been compared to the sectarianism of Northern Ireland, where different, hostile groups paint murals and raise flags to mark their territory.[8][50]
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.[8][12] 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.[12] 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.[12] 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.[8]
The campaign has been met with a similar backlash in Scotland and has prompted similar discussion around the use and meaning of the Scottish Saltire.[51] Right-wing activists have used the campaign as an opportunity to "reclaim" the flag from the Scottish National Party and the Scottish independence movement, which the Saltire has long been associated with. BBC News asked ethnic minorities in Glasgow and other towns in Scotland about their views on the Saltire with a mixed response, with some stating that the flag-raising campaign made them feel uncomfortable and fearful of racial discrimination while others said they were proud and supportive of the flag.[52] In response to concerns that the Saltire was being co-opted by the far-right, First Minister John Swinney said in September 2025 that the Saltire must be a "flag of welcome" and that he would fight to ensure the Saltire would remain a "an inclusive flag, which is there to draw all of us together in Scotland as an essential part of our national identity".[53][54] Former first minister Nicola Sturgeon called for people to "calm down a little bit about flags" and raised concerns that the spread of the Scottish Saltire was more about anti-immigration sentiment than national pride.[55]
An initiative named the 'Everyone Welcome' project was started in response in Manchester with artists customising St George’s flags with messages celebrating diversity.[31]
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