The Last Flags of Faversham
Late at night in Faversham, Kent, a small group moves quietly along the A2. They are known locally as “the ninjas” — vigilantes determined to take down hundreds of St George’s Cross flags that appeared across the town after a wave of patriotic displays swept through the UK.
A young man in a soft-top convertible shouts out as he passes:
“Get your hands off our flags!”
His friend, cigarette hanging from his lips, adds:
“We’ve paid good money for them, we’ll have you know.”
It is just after 2 a.m. on a Saturday. Five figures stand around a lamp-post: one journalist and four masked men. Their mission marks what they hope will be the final act in a long local campaign to remove the red-and-white flags that began spreading across Kent in late summer.
The Origins of the Flag Wave
The first flags went up in mid-August, following the launch of “Operation Raise the Colours” in Birmingham. The initiative quickly spread nationwide, promoted as a display of national pride and traditional patriotism intended to rekindle a sense of unity.
The Controversy Behind the Symbols
Not everyone saw it that way. Many locals began to suspect that the movement carried deeper, uncomfortable tones. The sudden rise of St George’s Crosses coincided with a series of anti-asylum protests in Epping and similar towns. Critics noted that the original campaign was driven by prominent far-right activists, which for some cast a shadow over the flags’ intended meaning.
Summary
A tense night in Faversham reveals how a symbol of patriotism became a battleground between pride and protest in modern Britain.