![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_266026908-5d7b.jpg\")
\n\t\tBirmingham City Council is seeking the removal of 20,000 England and Union Jack flags (Picture: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tBirmingham City Council is seeking the removal of 20,000 England and Union Jack flags (Picture: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Birmingham<\/a> City Council is forking out \u00a32.6million to remove England<\/a> and Union Jack flags from its streets.<\/p>\n Last month, legal action was taken to ban \u2018unauthorised flags and banners\u2019 from being fixed near roads.<\/p>\n Initially, the move sparked backlash, as a viral post on social media<\/a> accused the council of seeking to \u2018ban the national flag\u2019 and pushing an \u2018agenda\u2019.<\/p>\n This was not the case, however, with the City Council forced to issue clarification, explaining that it had sought a High Court<\/a> injunction to \u2018prohibit unauthorised attachments on the highway\u2019.<\/p>\n If caught attaching flags to street furniture without authorisation, people could face fines or jail time.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a><\/strong> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> <\/strong>alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n Now, the local authority\u2019s spending has been revealed in documents submitted to the High Court.<\/p>\n \t\t Around 20,000 flags were installed on lampposts throughout the city as part of Operation Raise the Colours, a grassroots UK campaign. <\/p>\n Launched last August, it \u2018promotes patriotism by encouraging the public display of the Union Jack and national flags on streets\u2019.<\/p>\n The movement has proven divisive, as while supporters deem it a harmless way of expressing national pride, critics argue it has anti-immigrant sentiment and is tied to far-right ideas.<\/p>\n According to paperwork, the removal will cost the equivalent of \u00a3132 per flag, citing practical difficulties and \u2018safety concerns\u2019.<\/p>\n This is due to staff previously facing harassment while carrying out removals, the documents state, and needing police support. The council says relying on police assistance in this manner is not sustainable<\/a> long-term.<\/p>\n They add that contractors must also undertake removals in the darkness for their own safety.<\/p>\n A council spokesperson has reiterated that the decision is \u2018not about stopping people flying flags\u2019 but rather focused on \u2018unauthorised attachments\u2019 on public infrastructure.<\/p>\n \t\t The law states that legal permission is not needed to fly the likes of the Union Flag or the St George\u2019s Cross on your own property. However, highway authority permission is required to fly flags next to a road.<\/p>\n Birmingham City Council is run by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats<\/a>, Greens and independents.<\/p>\n The flag removal operation has also raised questions around spending, given that, in September 2023, a section 11 notice was issued. This was the council effectively declaring itself bankrupt.<\/p>\n Since then, the authority has been under significant financial pressure and carried more than \u00a33.5billion in debt, more than any local authority in the country.<\/p>\n Critiquing the flag removal scheme, Councillor Rajbir Singh, Reform UK\u2019s shadow cabinet member for finance, said Union Flags and St George\u2019s Crosses should not be viewed as symbols requiring removal, voicing disapproval of the decision to commit millions of pounds to taking them down while services elsewhere are cut.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Councillor Jane Baston, cabinet member for equalities, communities and social justice, defended the spending of public funds.<\/p>\n Baston said the strategy is lawful and based on evidence around public safety, asking residents to only fly flags where they have permission to.<\/p>\n \t\t Elsewhere in the country, this weekend, Nigel Farage<\/a> promised a co-founder of Raise the Colours that he will use Reform UK\u2019s legal resources to help them put flags on lampposts.<\/p>\n This follows Oxfordshire<\/a> County Council being granted the same High Court injunction that Birmingham Council is seeking. It was granted in July.<\/p>\n Speaking at the Party conference on Saturday, Farage read out a question from organiser Ryan Bridge, asking whether the politician would be \u2018happy to read [his] proposal\u2019.<\/p>\n Farage replied: \u2018I\u2019ll give it to our lawyers. I can\u2019t see why it shouldn\u2019t be legal.\u2019<\/p>\n He went on to say there is \u2018too much\u2019 of \u2018being told we should be ashamed of who we are\u2019 and \u2018of our flag\u2019, accusing Oxfordshire and Birmingham of \u2018clearly actually hating the country\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018This is not new. This anti-flag, anti-British-English identity stuff has been around for a long time,\u2019 said Farage.<\/p>\n \u2018What your campaign has done, it\u2019s woken up vast parts of the country, but the old enemy is still there.<\/p>\n \u2018If we can help you legally with this fight, we will help you. I promise.\u2019<\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n For more stories like this, <\/strong>check our news page<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_266026879-ea51.jpg\")
\n\t\tAround 20,000 flags have been put up around the city (Picture: Jacob King\/PA Wire)<\/p>\n![\"BIRMINGHAM,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310835384-2e93.jpg\")
\n\t\tCo-founder of Raise the Colours, Ryan Bridge, asked Nigel Farage to read his proposal at the Reform UK conference (Picture: Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"epa13209510](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310547761-2f15.jpg\")
\n\t\tFarage vowed to use the Party\u2019s legal resources to help the display of flags on lampposts (Picture: EPA)<\/p>\n
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