As our England boys have taken to the pitch again for the Euros 2024, a debate has started rippling through my friendship group. Does dressing for an England game make you look like a member of the EDL, or is it kinda hot to be patriotic right now? And the general consensus is: yes, yes it is hot.
Not necessarily because anyone believes in traditional British values (ick!) or approves of the Government, or any potential governments, or enjoys the general state of the country right now. God no! But with the thriving, undying force of blokecore comes a natural predisposition towards red, white and royal blue. Rather than political, it’s purely aesthetic. It’s pints in beer gardens and fry ups in caffs. It’s singing Sweet Caroline even though you f***ing hate it. And just as the Gen Zs have embraced kitschy old Brazilia and I <3 NY tourist t-shirts (in baby tee form, obvs), it’s time for us to plaster the Union Jack across our tits and scream “ENG-ER-LAND!” at some TV screens.
If you need proof that flying the flag is cool again, just look at the album releases. There’s Rachel Chinouriri’s debut album, What a Devastating Turn of Events, the cover of which shows the singer standing outside a terraced house decked out with St George’s flag bunting. And there’s Nia Archives lifting her lips to reveal a Union Jack grill on the cover of her Britpop inspired Silence Is Loud LP and a recent cover of ES Magazine. Even Dua Lipa started citing Britpop influence towards the end of her Radical Optimism PR run, almost as a last-ditch attempt to make the album more relevant.
Plus, the stats are behind it. According to Depop, searches for England shirts are up 101 per cent from April to May, fuelled by collabs like Palace and Umbro, which have made the England shirt cool again (Depop searches spiked by 3929 per cent following the announcement of their sixth drop).
They’re saying Cool Britannia is back, but the faces of this wave don’t look like Liam Gallagher, David Beckham or Geri Halliwell. They’re Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, Little Simz and Olivia Dean. They’re Rina Sawayama, Charli XCX, Maya Jama, Stormzy. Stylistically, it’s not all that different: the photoshoots on union jack bed sheets, mini dresses and iconic football kits of old still hold up. But they didn’t stand for much. This version of Cool Britannia loves British culture, but they know it’s not just British culture. They love British culture, but they’re ready to join a protest at the drop of a hat. They love British culture because they know it’s the mix of about 100 other cultures that make it worth living here. And they also know that it sucks, but they’ve got to make the most of it anyway.
And yes, there are people that still wear the flag for the wrong reasons. But as far as I’m concerned, there are two flags. The flag that decorates Nigel Farage’s socks is not our flag. Treat it as a fake, a counterfeit, a cheap knockoff. A man like that shouldn’t stop you from embracing the best parts of your country. And honestly, it’s usually pretty easy to tell who’s wearing the flag in the fun way, and who’s a massive tosser. So yes, the Union Jack is back, and it’s ours for the taking.
