I have a few Flag Stories about belligerent Englishers putting out union jacks and English crosses in response to people flying their own flags but the stories are more or less all the same: I have rarely encountered a white English person flying the flag out of patriotism, but I would need all my fingers and toes to count the times I’ve seen English and British flags flown out of blusteringly angry xenophobia and racism.
In all the time I lived in Britain I think I saw the British flag flown once by an individual out of pure patriotism. Our neighbour, who was the loveliest, most helpful person I’ve met in a long time, flew the flag. I remember seeing it when we moved in and being quite concerned, but he was invariably lovely.
Every other time, it was flown by some racist bigot who wanted me to go back where I came from (…”but I don’t like Hemel Hempstead, it’s a bit of a dump”).
