Flags have always been the first casualties of cultural surrender—pulled down by conquering armies or folded away by those who’ve lost faith in what they represent. Across the Atlantic, a curious battle is unfolding in Britain’s streets, where the simple act of raising the national colors has become an underground resistance movement.
In towns from Stevenage to Lincoln, thousands of British flags are appearing overnight on lampposts, painted on crosswalks, and hung from apartment windows. By dawn, local councils dispatch crews to tear them down—because apparently displaying your own country’s flag now requires government permission. By the next nightfall, the flags return, raised by groups calling themselves “Operation Raise the Colours.” It’s a nightly dance of defiance that has transformed the Cross of St. George from a soccer symbol into something far more contentious.
The movement has drawn unlikely participants. Louis Turvey, a 33-year-old gay man of Roma-Gypsy heritage, joined four strangers one evening to hang flags in Stevenage, describing the experience as “spiritual” and “calming.” His peaceful patriotism was met with Molotov cocktails—one slicing his head open, leaving him bloodied but unbowed. When did loving your country become an act worthy of firebombing?
Despite leftist councils condemning the flags as “intimidation” and polls showing immigration has overtaken the economy as Britain’s top concern, ordinary Britons keep raising their colors in defiance of what they see as their government’s hostility toward national pride.
This British uprising has caught the attention of an unexpected ally: Vice President JD Vance. Speaking to Fox News this week, Vance threw his support behind the UK flag movement with characteristic directness.
From Fox News:
It is in fact a good thing to be proud of your country and we should push back against the crazies who say we should be so ashamed of our culture and our heritage that we shouldn’t be willing to fly a flag. It’s craziness, we’ve got to call that craziness out, and encourage our European friends to follow suit.
Vance drew parallels to America’s own flag battles during the BLM protests, when many Americans feared displaying the Stars and Stripes might invite vandalism or worse. He emphasized the deep cultural bonds between America and Britain, noting that “what happens in Europe does affect the United States and vice-versa.” His message was clear—and about time someone said it: when one Western nation’s patriots face suppression, their allies should speak up.
The Vice President’s intervention comes as Britain’s Labour government hits historic lows—just 20% approval—while Nigel Farage’s immigration-skeptic Reform UK party surges to 28%. Meanwhile, over 50,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since Labour took power, fueling the very tensions the flag movement reflects.
I’ll admit, there’s something profoundly moving about ordinary people risking violence to hang their nation’s flag. It reminds us that patriotism isn’t granted by governments—it bubbles up from citizens who refuse to apologize for loving their country. Trump understood this when he protected the American flag from desecration. Vance understands it now, recognizing that whether in Birmingham, England or Birmingham, Alabama, the same battle for cultural confidence is being waged.
Perhaps that’s why a gay Roma-Gypsy in Stevenage and a conservative VP in Washington can find common cause in defending simple pieces of cloth. They understand what the “crazies”—and yes, let’s call them what they are—don’t understand: flags aren’t just fabric. They’re declarations that some things are worth preserving, worth defending, and worth bleeding for. As this movement spreads across Britain, one suspects it won’t stop at the English Channel. Patriots everywhere are taking notes.
