After an interesting conversation on our Facebook Page it became clear that people simply do not know that Tower Hamlets is part of England. The national flag is only occasionally flown on top of the Town Hall and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets has no flag as such. The borough has a Coat of Arms, which is not widely known and not flown on flagpoles around the borough.

Whilst when we enter the City of London, our nearest neighbour, we get greeted with the City of London flag and that is closely affiliated to the England Flag.

Sadly many feel the England flag is right-wing, alienating and foreign. Those who think this are mainly immigrants.

the standard Union Jack (Union Flag) of the United Kingdom prominently features the red Cross of St. George as one of its main components.

The Union Jack combines three crosses:

• The red Cross of St. George (for England) — a bold upright red cross on white

• The white saltire (diagonal cross) of St. Andrew (for Scotland) on blue

• The red saltire of St. Patrick (for Ireland/Northern Ireland) on white

The red St. George’s Cross runs vertically and horizontally through the center, forming the most visually dominant straight cross on the flag.

Here are some clear views of the Union Jack itself, where you can see the St. George’s Cross integrated:

So while there isn’t a version of the Union Jack that only shows the St. George’s Cross (that would just be the English flag), the full Union Jack always includes and prominently displays it as its central upright cross. It’s very much “a Union Jack with a St. George’s cross on it”! 🇬🇧 source

It appears that people are just not used to the English flag, so not used to associate with it and it’s mainly long-standing residents (50 years plus) who use it. The failure to connect to the English flag as regional national flag is one of significant problems

We ran a query of Grok about the official flag of Tower Hamlets and AI assumes that the Palestinian flag is the most used flag in the borough. It seems more people feel this is a Palestinian borough rather than an English borough, because of the absence of English symbolism in official regalia.

Perhaps the easy solution to getting newcomers to Britain associated with their new national identity is to display the national flag on all official buildings and provide each Council with an official flag, that incorporates the flags of their region and our country.

Flag use in Britain stems from a time, when everybody knew they are English and local Coats of Arms were used to help local Councils have local identity with the knowledge they are part of England and indeed Great Britain. Since the population demographic has changed, the knowledge of national identity has since eroded.

This issue is high on the agenda of media and people alike. It is essential for social unrest and crime prevention to manage this issue.

Quite clear rules exist about putting up flags. Many government and public services buildings have flag poles for the purpose of erecting flags with the full permission of the law.

In principle every nation has the right to display their national flag on permitted flag poles on government buildings.

Below is the guidance from the Government which includes the latest rules and regulations..

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/flying-flags-a-plain-english-guide/flying-flags-a-plain-english-guide.

You will note that there is information as to flags which do not require consent to be flown. Foreign flags are generally not included and therefore require consent from the local planning authority. Likewise the local planning authority must give permission for flags on public premises, whether it be a building, a standard or indeed a lamppost.

The National Flag Institute publishes extensive details on flags and here is the last of them. Note, the Palestinian Flag is not included.

UK flag protocol

Therefore it is safe to say that flags attached to lamp posts require double permission, to be flown and also to be included for a special local reason.

You may report any flags, which are erected unlawfully on public street furniture for example to the local Council who have a reporting methods, using the Find it Fix it app. See more details here.

Health and Safety concerns

It is truly patriotic to fly your national flag but always consider the health and safety of others, the traffic and police considerations.

• Putting up flags across streets on string is not safe unless it is a licensed street party, which encourages putting up flags across the area of the street party.
• obstructing traffic and pedestrian signs is not safe
• Your landlord may have rules on displaying flags from windows