The Raise the Colours group insist that flying the Union Jack is patriotic and should not be seen as racist
The Raise the Colours group have flown scores of flags across the south of Birmingham in recent months(Image: Raise the Colours)
A group responsible for putting up scores of Union and St George’s Cross flags on lampposts across south Birmingham have vowed to keep adding more – and soon plans to flood the city centre with flags.
Elliott Stanley, one of 150 members of the Raise the Colours group, denied any racist intent and said he did not and never would be in support of the far right in any way – after footage showed him at a protest outside a Solihull asylum hotel over the summer.
He was seen gesturing at anti-racists who were declaring refugees were welcome, and later declared asylum seekers “shouldn’t be here”. The dad-of-four has since said people should feel proud to be British and no-one should despise their own country’s flag.
READ MORE: Flags removal ‘blitz’ in Birmingham as council recruits staff for night-time operation
READ MORE: Birmingham tattooist who went viral in flag video says ‘idiots are trying to divide people’
He claimed the reaction to the group’s flag flying mission from the public had been “90 per cent positive”. The only altercations, he said, had come “exclusively from a vocal minority of white people.”
(Image: BirminghamLive)
Some flags have been ripped down with several locals confronting the Raise the Colours group – a grassroots movement to cover Britain in flags – in viral clips filmed in Stirchley last Thursday, October 2.
Mr Stanley, 44, told BirminghamLive: “This is not about race, it’s not about division, it shouldn’t be a divisive issue that we’re flying our own flag.
“It’s the union flag. It’s to unite all four countries of Great Britain and all of us as one underneath one flag.”
The businessman continued: “The initial motivation for myself was just to be patriotic. To display we are a fantastic and tolerant country. We’ve done a lot of good things for the world and we should be proud to come from this country.
“By displaying the national flag it’s to say ‘this is us, we’re British, all of us together and should all be supportive of our national identity.’
“This does not come down to anything to do with colour, race, creed – it’s a flag for all of us. It’s our national flag. We want to cover the city centre at some point.”
Flags in neighbourhoods across the city have sparked an ongoing debate, with those responsible describing the flying initiative as a patriotic move to celebrate the country’s history and achievements.
But it has sparked concern from anti-racism campaigners and others amid claims the flag campaign is politically-motivated and seeking to sow division.
Mr Stanley said the group – which formed at the end of May – had received some hate either in person, online or by phone telling him: “I know where you live.”
He was in Harborne putting up flags on Sunday, October 5, and said their actions were compared to the Nazis.
“Someone came up to me and said ‘that’s the Nazi flag – it’s a disgrace’,” he said. “It’s upsetting as this is our national flag.
“I can’t understand that. I know people have said ‘well it’s been used by racist groups in the past’, but we’re anti-racist.
“There’s no racist connotations to our flag as far as we’re concerned. Why would I want to go out and cause no end of drama to make myself appear to be a racist or to upset people?
“It’s never been our intention to upset anybody. If we can’t recognise that we’re all British and we all have a flag that represents us, what type of country are we? Are we a country any more?”
He added: “If anyone wants to use the flag for racist intent tell them to p**s off. They are scumbags.”
St George’s Cross flags in Birmingham – the story so far
The flags of St George and the Union have become a regular feature in neighbourhoods across Birmingham this year, fluttering from lamp-posts lining major routes and housing estates.
The phenomenon started in south Birmingham communities including Weoley Castle, Northfield and Frankley before rapidly spreading across the city, Solihull and the Black Country, and on to other cities and towns.
Organisers say they are aiming to spread “love, unity and patriotism” with the flags, but some community voices and residents say the motivations behind putting up the flags lies beyond spreading civic pride.
The Raise the Colours movement says it is behind the rapid spread. Birmingham co-organisers Elliot Stanley and Ryan Bridge have spoken of their ‘patriotic intentions’ and have criticised those who seek their removal.
Prominent groups have also emerged in each community – the ‘Weoley Warriors’ among them. One of their organisers, Nathan, has described how a group of football fans wanted to ‘restore pride’ to ‘neglected’ working class communities.
But there are concerns the project has links to the far right and is designed to divide and intimidate, with a nationalist narrative at its root which seeks to promote specific views on immigration.
The flag hanging comes at a politically charged time in the UK.
Far-right and right wing protestors have been raising St George’s flags outside hotels housing asylum seekers and some Birmingham community groups have called for their “immediate removal” warning it is not “innocent patriotism.”
Others have said that would inflame tensions and that the best way to counter the phenomenon is by putting up ‘Brummies United’ posters instead.
If you’d like to share your views on what the flags mean to you, please get in touch.
Mr Stanley said the Raise the Colours group had received positive feedback about the flags from a diverse Birmingham public.
“If there’s 100 people who stop us, 90 people are in support. “It’s the ten percent, the vocal minority which capture the headlines,” he said.
“I’ve had so much support on direct messages and private messages but they are too scared to offer their support in a public forum as it might affect their employment. But I have courage and convictions and will put myself up front.
“I’ve had so many different people come up to us. Taxi drivers who are Muslim asking to have a flag for their cabs.
“They’ve said ‘this is brilliant what you’re doing – well done.’ A man came up to me in Cotteridge and said to me: ‘I’m a Muslim and I think what you’re doing is absolutely wonderful. This is our country – all of us.’
“I said I was so pleased and it’s reinforcing when I hear things like that to say ‘this is our country’. That makes me proud of our country. It’s rewarding. We know we are doing this for the right reasons.
“Then you get white people calling you a fascist. I said all we’re doing is being patriotic. One guy said ‘patriotism is a bad thing it breeds racism.’
“I said I’d never heard of that before. Every country in the world should be proud of where they’ve come from irrespective of which country they come from.
“I’m not a racist. Anyone who knows me will tell you that.
“If we can’t be proud of where we’ve come from and our heritage and our history I think it’s a crying shame.”
Flags Going Up In Stirchley As Police Stand By
He said: “We’re in a really precarious position as a nation if, all of a sudden, we despise where we come from.
“I’m not going to change my stance. I love this country, I’m a proud Englishman, and proud to be British.
“The exclusive problem we have had has been with white people. I have not had one person with a different skin tone to me taking issue with what we’re doing.
“I’ve had so many veterans thanking us. My grandad was 16 when he fought in the Second World War, a lot of his friends died. All those people who have died for that flag for what?
“For us to then despise it as a country? Is there another country in the world which would frown towards the flag of its own country?”
Raise the Colours used cherry pickers to attach flags to lampposts in Hopwood, through Redditch Road, Kings Norton, Cotteridge, to Pershore Road in Stirchley and Harborne.
Different groups have added flags in Kingstanding and Bromsgrove.
St George’s Cross was put up on Pershore Road in Birmingham
But Birmingham City Council is seeking to recruit new workers, via a contractor, to take down flags from street furniture under the cover of darkness in the coming weeks.
Mr Stanley said the cash-strapped council would be better spending funds elsewhere.
“I find it a bit rich. Everyone knows the financial situation of Birmingham City Council and now they’re prepared to spend £50 per hour on two people, plus money on a cherry picker, to send them out from 8pm to 5am,” he said.
“I think that could be potentially divisive itself. It’s a crying shame that, after the effort a lot of people have gone to to brighten up their respective streets, they’re going to wake up in the morning one day and the flags won’t be there.
“There’s not going to be a threat from anyone from our side. If they take them down they take them down and if we decide to put them back up we will put them back up.
“We’re not going to obstruct or try to intimidate anyone. It’ll be disappointing but it won’t be defeating either. We’re going to continue.
“We have no intention of stopping because the nights are getting darker or the weather is getting colder. We’ve been out in the pouring rain, that’s not going to deter us.”
Raise the Colours is in the process of making the group into a charitable organisation. It has raised around £10,000 in donations so far.
Elliott added: “We want to offer transparency. We’re not lining our own pockets. We’re out of pocket. We all work and we’re doing this in our spare time.
“We’re also going to spend some of the money on veterans and the homeless with some soup kitchens.”
A spokesperson for Stand Up To Racism, which organised the hotel counter protest at which Mr Stanley was filmed, said: “I think this video confirms what Stand Up To Racism and others have been arguing since the flags started going up. This is a political movement, led by people who hate migrants.
“Now we can see that Elliott Stanley was part of the summer protests aimed at targeting and scapegoating migrants. What people like him refuse to accept is that many people do not hold with their political views and not everyone wants their neighbourhoods covered in flags.”