I am tired of Raise the Colours flaggers. It is time Birmingham stopped them. I do not recall agreeing to let politically motivated men stick flags all over our city without permission. Yet they are given free rein.
The Problem with Raise the Colours
Another day, another Facebook livestream from Ryan Bridge, leader of the West Midlands-based Raise the Colours group. He mines money and influence among patriots by putting up flags across our city without authorization. He appears on my work feeds frequently, usually modeling his own merchandise, as he tours with his crew peddling a simplistic worldview with Union flags and the Cross of St George as his calling card.
He is back in Stirchley, one of his favorite stomping grounds, baiting the lefties and woke locals who object to Union flags lining their streets. Bridge shrugs off concerns from residents who say the displays feel divisive, including healthcare staff who described driving into flagged areas as intimidating. It is all harmless, he insists. Only lefties read anything more into it, and they can all do one, is his message.
A passing car beeps. Another patriot, he grins, waving. His crew gets to work: Elon in the van, Matty up in the cherry picker, swapping a faded poppy for a fresh Union flag and St George's Cross. Bridge beams as the red, white, and blue flutters in the night sky. Beautiful. Unbelievable, he tells his viewers. Later that night, another group arrives to cut the flags down.
Flags as Symbols of Division
The flags flown are not neutral symbols. They are the flags of our nation, proudly flown at moments of heightened national pride, but used by Bridge and his allies, they are markers about who belongs and who does not. That is why so many Brummies are pushing back, pressing for unity over division, and resisting the racist and particularly Islamophobic undercurrent.
Residents who challenge the flaggers describe intimidation and abuse. One woman was branded a traitor outside her own home. Others speak of repeated harassment as flags are reinstalled again and again. Salma, from Moseley, questions who is really behind the campaign. They claim it is patriotic but what I see is division, not inclusion. The majority of Brummies are kind, compassionate, and welcoming. We do not want hatefulness to take over our home.
Josie, from Cotteridge, is blunter: I live here and I am fed up with this. They keep coming back, putting the same flag up outside my house again and again. Laurence, from Stirchley, points to the wider pattern: flags going up without permission, by people who do not live locally, accompanied by hostility towards anyone who challenges them.
Others speak of what the symbolism has become. We all know what these flags are being used to signal, one resident wrote. Do not dress it up as pride; this is about intimidation. And for some, the feeling runs deeper still. I shudder every time I go shopping, another said. It is wrong to use my flag to make me feel like that. Do not allow their dogwhistle arguments about being proud to be British; this is about intimidation and racism.
Time for Action
It is time the council, the police, and our city acted to say no. The unauthorized flag displays must stop. Birmingham is a city of diversity and inclusion, not division and fear. Let us reclaim our streets from those who seek to divide us.
