How can anyone express feelings of patriotism, when the flag has become synonymous with fascist nationalism – and rightly so. 

It is pretty safe to say that the St Georges flag has become a symbol of racism. It no longer represents feelings of pride – rather it has become a hostile symbol of aggression, telling immigrants and anyone who is not white, to leave.

For many years now the English flag has been mobilised by far-right groups, whose racist riots make it hard to separate from xenophobia. 

I have seen with my own eyes, racist at these events dressed as crusaders, waving the English flag as they long for the racist colonial ‘British Empire’ to return. This myth of English exceptionalism and the empire, which justified the brutality of slavery, colonial exploitation, genocide, and racial hierarchies is still supported by those who weaponise the english flag as a symbol of exclusion. 

The flag is not a symbol of welcoming, it has become a symbol of social exclusion – a warning to assimilate (if you are white) or to get out. The media has pushed this by creating an us vs them to otherwise minority groups in the UK, placing them to blame for the inequalities caused by billionaires and corrupt politicians.

We have seen historically how symbols are shaped by those who use them. After all, even the famous swastika was not always synonymous with fascism and nazis – it was taken from ancient Eurasia with its name coming from Sanskrit, meaning “well-being” or “good fortune”. After being used by Hindus and Buddhists as a symbol of good luck, it was then adopted by the Nazis. If the English flag continues to be used as a symbol of division by right wing forces – there is no doubt the cultural meaning of the English flag will continue to change.

We have seen flags being hung purposefully in famously left wing in cities like Brighton as a shorthand for resisting social change, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ visibility, and racial equality movements, all the while, these racist patriots enjoy the rewards that multi-culturalism and diversity reaps.

Where would we be without immigrants in England? Cultural diversity is a wonderful thing, as is the support that immigrants provide by working in essential sectors like healthcare. 

Many English immigrants and tourists living and visiting places like Benidorm in Spain see no issues with referring to certain parts of Spain as Britain abroad – yet happily tell immigrants in the UK to ‘go back to their own country’. 

You can feel proud to be British – telling people otherwise will just push them further down the right wing pipeline. People want to feel like they belong, they want to seek community and they want to be able to afford to live- and there are significant class dimensions to this.

The weaponisation of the english flag is a purposefully crafted tool by right wing leaders such as Farrage, and his team of billionaire crooks to drum up nationalism and hatred in order to distract working class people from their real enemies – the ultra rich.

The flag distracts from systemic inequality, while also silencing dissent by painting critics as traitors. 

Working people in the UK are struggling. They are struggling to find jobs, struggling to eat, struggling to live. 

But this is not the fault of a refugee family who have come here to seek asylum. This is the fault of the billionaires, who don’t pay their fair share of taxes, hoard wealth, hoard land, hoard housing – and leave nothing for the working people. 

These are the same billionaires who profit from creating wars and genocides abroad – which lead immigrants to seek refuge in the UK. 

Do not let them fool you. Your struggle is man made by the rich white man – not immigrants working gig-economy jobs.