00:00Here in King Standing, one thing you cannot miss is the flags. They're everywhere.
00:05They've gone up as part of the Raise the Colours movement.
00:08And now in nearby Warsaw, the council is considering a permanent managed flag display at Brownhill's Minor Island.
00:16For some, that's simply about pride and patriotism. For others, it's a symbol that some see as divisive.
00:23Nationalism once quoted as being the last refuge of scoundrels.
00:28But no, I mean, nationalism is a good thing. We are going to see it, I believe, in the terms
00:34of the England World Cup campaign.
00:36And lots of people will be flying England flags because, of course, there's no such thing as a British football
00:42team.
00:43And of course, therein lies a little bit of the conundrum.
00:45And quite often when you see these flags, it's the Union flag, just to sort of correct it.
00:51Jacks are actually only floating on ships.
00:53But nonetheless, the Union flag, together with the flag of St George.
00:59The Raise the Flags movement began in Birmingham in 2024 as a grassroots campaign encouraging people to display flags in
01:08public spaces.
01:09It gained national attention after Birmingham City Council said it would remove unauthorised flags from highways,
01:15prompting debate about pride, identity and shared spaces.
01:20Since then, similar displays have spread across the country, with supporters describing it as harmless patriotism,
01:28while critics argue it can feel divisive or unwelcoming in some communities.
01:34So it's being used, I think, as a sort of a malign tool to sort of create separateness, which is
01:39no good thing.
01:40Anybody who's ever been to Northern Ireland will have seen this in sort of shed loads, as it were.
01:46You go to sort of to parts of Belfast, you immediately know which area you're in,
01:49because, of course, they paint everything, either red, white and blue, which means it's a loyalist area,
01:54or green, white and gold, which means it's a nationalist area, or Republicans.
01:57And, you know, it's, dare I say, sectarian, because it's about sort of the faith that you follow and the
02:03sort of the beliefs that you have.
02:04So somehow or other, we need to sort of to capture the flag.
02:08And indeed, this has been going on for the last couple of decades to sort of to take the sort
02:12of the flag of St. George in particular,
02:15but also the sort of the Union flag back from the nationalists and make it so it's much more inclusive.
02:20Because, of course, Britishness is about sort of multiculturalism and celebrating and sort of respecting other people's beliefs and faiths
02:27and so on and so forth.
02:28Well, I did speak to several locals for their views on the flags.
02:32People simply did not want to be on camera.
02:35Their views were mixed.
02:36Some liked the flags.
02:37Some thought they were a mess.
02:38But people didn't want to appear on camera because they felt that the issue was very divisive and they didn't
02:44want to upset their neighbours.
02:46For some, raising the flags is a visible show of national and local pride.
02:51For others, it raises questions about division and belonging.
02:55And that debate is only likely to continue.
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