The Divided Kingdom: The War on British Identity Rages On

The Controversies Surrounding British National Emblems

From The Royal British Legion

A veteran taxi driver was recently banned from displaying the Union Flag on his taxi. John Brockhurst, from Market Drayton, was told by Shropshire Council to remove the St. George's Cross and the Union Jack as it apparently went against their policy. One councillor, Ian Nellins said, "For a number of inflammatory reasons .. things are taken the wrong way. Taxis are licenced; they're a licenced facility, and we have to have some rules to keep it neutral.”

The irony is stark: displaying a national flag within a country's own borders can now be considered provocative and inflammatory. What happened to individual rights and the freedom to express one's identity? It appears that these cherished freedoms are selectively granted, reserved for those deemed to possess the "right characteristics" or who fall into the "right identity groups.”

During the Queen’s Jubilee in 2022, while many viewed the British flags flown on London’s Regent Street as a symbol of celebration, pride, and national identity, others criticised the "hubristic" flag displays, associating them with "elitism, colonialism, and fascism" and even drawing parallels to scenes from 1930s Germany.

These sentiments extend beyond the borders of the United Kingdom. Certain national emblems in the US have also elicited contempt, animosity, and rage.

The assault on national symbols doesn’t stop at the flag. In the UK, even the poppy, a poignant symbol of remembrance, has become a flashpoint for controversy and conflict.

I had to call an electrician last week because an electrical fault had left us without heating. When he entered our home and saw my husband wearing a poppy on his Zavetti black body warmer, he gave a head nod, tapped his own poppy on his electrician gear, and joked, "But they might think we're Nazis now, though." As they laughed, I was left wondering, "How did we get here?"

A cenotaph in Rochdale was vandalised, poppies were destroyed, and 'Free Palestine' graffiti was written on the war memorial. Poppy sellers have been effectively bullied out of their busiest locations. The situation has escalated to the point that some of these sellers are afraid for their safety and feel "too nervous" to wear the Remembrance symbol.

Despite the constant calls on Britain to respect, embrace, and welcome different cultures and traditions, its very symbols of sacrifice and national identity are often the targets of disdain and derision.

Is multiculturalism to blame for such societal instability? Some argue that it is indeed a contributing factor. Ongoing discussions question its success or failure, not necessarily in terms of the coexistence of different races and ethnicities but rather in the intensification of conflicts and collisions between value systems, cultural beliefs, and ideological frameworks.

I see the problem as twofold. The first issue is the failure to establish or uphold a dominant culture—not dominant in a tyrannical sense or in terms of one culture being superior to the other, but in terms of instituting a common culture that is universally recognised, shared, and valued by all citizens.

The other main problem, which is a more significant issue, is that some of the most fervent adversaries and critics of British history, values and traditions haven’t been people from “outside the house,” but rather people from within. As George Orwell wrote in 1941, “England is perhaps the only great country where intellectuals are ashamed of their own nationality.”

A very clear message is conveyed by the constant denigration, apologies, denunciation, and condemnation of all things British, or even Western. These are things to be ashamed of. We are the villains. After attending the Battle of Ideas event last month, I took the tube at St James's Park station, close to a pro-Palestinian protest, and saw placards expressing these exact sentiments: “Britain is guilty.”

British values and Western civilisation aren't merely under threat; they teeter on the brink of collapse. Doom-filled, perhaps, and there are times that such language does more harm than good by contributing to alarmism. However, there's no denying that the landscape of the Western world has changed and continues to change rapidly, with government authorities often struggling to tackle these social issues.

We find ourselves in an era where a mere tweet can lead to arrest, and an autistic girl can be detained on 'suspicion of a homophobic public order offence.' Meanwhile, protesters chanting 'for Muslim armies to commence jihad against Israel' are given the benefit of the doubt. If this isn't the epitome of a crisis, I'm not sure what is.

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Ada is the senior content officer at The Equiano Project.