Across England, flags are visible like never before. They are being hoisted on lamp-posts. Hastily painted representations of the St George’s flag, typically little more than a couple of red lines painted on an available white background, are popping up on mini-roundabouts and other surfaces.
For some, this impromptu flagging of England’s streets is a celebration of patriotism. For others, it’s a far-right, borderline-racist provocation. In 2012, a survey by the thinktank British Future found that around a quarter of the English consider their flag to be racist, presumably as a result of its appropriation by rightwing groups.
To be sure, debates about what flags mean have been around for years. The association of the English flag with a particular type of politics and thinking has certainly generated heat in the past.
