A DEBATE over what the UK’s national flags represent has reared its head after a community movement has seen the Union Jack and the St George’s Cross fixed to lampposts across south Birmingham suburbs.
In recent weeks, areas of Birmingham including Weoley Castle, Frankley, and Northfield have seen the flags fly over their streets but the movement has raised both patriotism and concern.
Last weekend a man named Sean Doolan took responsibility for the flags. He posted an image of himself and 14 other men holding the flags in the Weoley Castle Community Facebook group.
He also shared a link to a GoFundMe page calling for donations for ‘flags, poles and cable ties’ which was launched by a group called Weoley Warriors.
On the donation page, Weoley Warriors described themselves as “a group of proud English men with a common goal to show Birmingham and the rest of the country how proud we are of our history, freedoms and achievements.”
Quickly, the movement has caught the attention of communities across the city and has sparked extensive discussion online. Birmingham City Council, according to independent Frankley councillor Simon Morrall, has already begun efforts to have the flags taken down.
Coun Morrall has expressed his upmost support for the project, calling on the council to keep the flags up until at least the end of August to ‘avoid further tension’.
A small number of the public have aired concerns that the message behind them is more political than is being proclaimed, with some pointing out that the UK’s national flags have previously been appropriated by far-right movements which have incited racist, anti-immigration sentiments.
Despite some negative feelings towards the movement, the vast majority of responses are in support of flying these UK flags as a representation of national pride. Particularly at a ‘fitting time’, with the 80th anniversary of Victory in Japan Day coming this Friday (August 15).
The local authority’s policy is to remove any flag fixed to council-owned property, regardless of whats on them. It’s understood the council has arranged a subcontractor to remove the flags in Weoley Castle.
Birmingham City Council say upcoming street lighting upgrades mean anything attached to lamppost will need to be taken down. They have also deterred the public from installing flags or anything similar on lampposts due to the potential to endanger themselves or pedestrians and motorists.