One resident urged those responsible to “take that down right now”
A group of people tie Union flags high on lampposts in Luckwell Road and Duckmoor Road in Bedminster, South Bristol, on the evening of Wednesday, September 10, 2025(Image: Bristol Post)
Union flags were tied high up on lampposts the length of another street in South Bristol on Wednesday by a small group – but turning the main road between Bedminster and Ashton into something that looks like The Mall in London wasn’t universally welcomed by the people who live there.
While occasional drivers beeped their horns in appreciation at the team of five who spent more than an hour tying the Union flag to every lamppost along Duckmoor Road and Luckwell Road, many residents were left furious at the imposition, and berated the flag raisers as they worked outside their home.
The road adorned with flags on Wednesday evening is entirely residential and runs from the climbing centre at the southern end of Winterstoke Road, all the way up to Ashton Road and Greville Smyth Park, near Ashton Gate Stadium. Wednesday’s action was a follow-up by the same team on Tuesday evening, who put flags on every lamppost on nearby West Street.
Bristol Live caught up with the team raising the flags just as were erecting the last couple on Luckwell Road on Wednesday evening. After introductions, the very first thing one of the men said without any prompting was: “It’s not racist. We’re just putting up flags to be patriotic.”
But as the final flags were being put up, residents opened their windows to argue with the group and tell them they didn’t want the flags outside their homes. “You can take that down right now,” shouted one woman from a first floor window.
“Who the hell do you think you are putting that up right outside my window? I don’t want it there. You don’t even live in this street, go and put it up outside your own house,” she continued.
“It’s not on your property, this is on the street,” replied one of the men. “It’s right outside. We don’t want it here,” the woman shouted back, furiously. “Take your flags and your divisive racism to your own street.”
One of the men on the ground turned and said: “We have had a few like this along here tonight, people saying they don’t want it.” But the group pressed on regardless, boosted by the occasional beep of appreciation from a passing motorist.
None of the group of four men and one woman said they wanted to be identified, photographed or be formally interviewed. One of them was a man whose Facebook account is named ‘Andy Windows’. In public posts he has been organising teams of people to join him and others to put up the flags, and co-ordinate which roads they plan to do next.
After West Street and Duckmoor Road, other local roads in South Bristol, including North Street, Winterstoke Road, Ashton Road and the A38 in Bedminster Down towards the airport are also on his list. His flag campaign has a lot of support – his most recent Facebook post after putting up flags on West Street earlier this week has been shared around 70 times.
He said they will soon have an online fundraiser, to enable people to contribute financially to buy more flags. That Facebook post said: “All prominent roads need to be addressed. This has nothing to do with racism, just bringing pride and colour to our city.”
It continued: “Bristol unites against unvetted illegal immigration. Stop the Boats. Sort our borders out. Stop the rape of our women and children. Any help will be greatly appreciated.”
A screenshot of a public Facebook post by Andy Windows, from South Bristol, on September 10, 2025, rallying people to join him in putting up Union flags in various roads in Bedminster, Ashton and Bedminster Down(Image: Facebook)
Andy’s Facebook profile also posted a statement put together under the name of the CSF, Bristol City’s historic hooligan firm, which was issued back in August when political banners were put up on bridges on the Portway, the A4 in Brislington and over the M32.
Back then, the CSF claimed responsibility for those banners, which abused the Prime Minister and repeated anti-immigration slogans, in an overnight targeting of key locations which then kick-started the more local move to paint red crosses on roundabouts and put flags up around the city.
The original ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign back in August began on social media. Anti-racism organisation Hope Not Hate claims the “key organisers behind much of this activism are hardened and extreme far-right activists” with alleged links to the English Defence League and Britain First.
Back on Duckmoor Road on Wednesday evening, the men continued to work up the lampposts despite the abuse from some residents in their windows. One woman spotted a Trump MAGA baseball cap on one of the men, and challenged him on that, pointing out that Trump has a history of sexual assault allegations.
READ MORE: South Bristol street filled with Union Jack flags as community group hits back
“I love Donald Trump, I think he’s what the world needs at the moment,” replied the man. “We need someone like him here. He’s clearing out corruption over there. They are all corrupt here too,” he called back.
“It’s not the flag that’s the problem, it’s you,” shouted another woman, leaning out of the window as the ladders were being packed away. “It’s why you’re doing it. We don’t have an issue with the Union flag, but we don’t want it all along our street – it’s making the area look bad,” she shouted.
Other residents were also unhappy. One woman, who declined to be named, told Bristol Live she now had a large Union flag flying from a lamppost around five feet outside her window. “I don’t have a problem with the Union flag as such, I much prefer it to the England flag because it’s a flag of unity. My friend is Welsh and it’s something we can both get behind.
“I love seeing the flag when it’s the Olympics or a Royal Wedding or whatever. We’re all proud of our country, but I object to having it imposed on me, my street and my community by a small group of people who don’t even live here and who are clearly out to be divisive and political about it,” she added.
A group of people tie Union flags high on lampposts in Luckwell Road and Duckmoor Road in Bedminster, South Bristol, on the evening of Wednesday, September 10, 2025(Image: Bristol Post)The council response
In late August, a long statement about the appearance of St George’s flags in Bristol, and those painted on roundabouts, was published by council leader Tony Dyer. Now the councillor for Southville, which includes one end of Duckmoor Road, Cllr Dyer was born and raised in the Ashton and Bedminster area at the centre of the controversy now, and is the descendant of the miners who worked under the area for centuries.
He talked about how he was proud of the England and UK flags, just as people from overseas who have come to live in Bristol are proud of raising their flags on special days at City Hall.
“When attending those ceremonies, it is clear to see the sense of pride in their nationality and/or heritage shown by those attending the ceremonies, especially on the raising of their country’s national flag,” he said.
Flags have appeared all along West Street in Bristol overnight(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
“Those of us who are of English nationality and/or heritage should not feel any different about public displays of our own national flag. That so many of us feel conflicted about doing so is not the fault of those who have pride in their own heritage but is a direct result of those who have sought to use our flag to sow division and hatred within our communities.
“The sad fact is that we know that right now our St George’s flag, which should be a symbol of pride is being used by some to represent anti migrant campaigns of misinformation and hate,” he added.
“Supporting your team, your country, or your community is something we can all celebrate, and international tournaments also provide opportunities for residents of our diverse city to show their support for teams from other countries as well. But as with many things, there’s a balance to be struck.
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“As a council, we don’t routinely remove flags. In fact, we love seeing the city come alive with colour and energy during big events. However, there are rare occasions when we have to step in – not usually because of what a flag represents, but because of where or how it’s displayed. If a flag is blocking a road, creating a safety hazard, or painted on to infrastructure like roundabouts, we have a legal duty to act. It’s not about silencing anyone – it’s about keeping people safe and making sure the council carries out its legal duties on your behalf,” he added.
An impromptu council policy has evolved in response to the proliferation of Union flags – the council won’t remove them unless they are causing some kind of health and safety hazard, or if they are causing offence.
Bristol City Council leader Cllr Tony Dyer in his City Hall office in January 2025(Image: Copyright Unknown)
The sudden arrival of more than 50 Union flags in Bedminster is now causing something of a dilemma for Bristol City Council. The flags high up on lampposts aren’t a particular hazard, but some of the people who live right next to them don’t like them being there and are complaining.
Complaints to local councillors and the council itself have begun to be received, and reports on the ‘Fix My Street’ website, where people normally report potholes or fly-tipping, have also begun to be made on Duckmoor Road as they were after Tuesday evening’s West Street flag raising. That means councillors and council officers will have to make a decision based on whether the flags are causing offence – presumably based on the volume of complaints about them.
In West Street, the local community and business group is called Way Out West. It normally raises funds and embark on projects to boost the street scene on that main shopping street with trees in planters, and promote the shops, businesses, cafes and restaurants there. It swung into action within hours of the flags appearing on Tuesday evening.
A poster produced on September 9, 2025 by community group Way Out West, in response to West Street, Bedminster being adorned with Union flags that evening
Its answer was not to take down the flags, but to print off posters to hang underneath. The posters also showed a Union flag, but this one had hands of different ethnicities meeting in the middle, with a message about how everyone is welcome in West Street whether they were born and raised there, or newly arrived from half a world away.
And the 25 Union flags are not the only flags on display on West Street either. There’s a huge St George Cross hanging from a window of one of the rooms at the nursing home on the street, and up the road a bit, the window of a flat facing one of the lampposts has a large Palestine flag hanging from it, with a poster proclaiming: “Refugees welcome. Stop the far right”.