Tattered Flag (Noak Hill, 2026)
Dead dreams, dead dreams flying flags / Flapping in the breeze,
wave your coloured rags - Public Image Limited (1987)
Some readers may recall a post I published last September written in response to the Raise the Colours campaign [1].
That piece was prompted by an article by Laura Dodsworth published on her Substack, wherein she extolled the beauty of Union flags flying proudly on her local high street, claiming the bright colours "cut through the drizzle like fireworks" [2].
Well, nine months on, and where are we?
Are people like Ms Dodsworth still feeling energised by these cheap polyester flags, mostly imported from mass-production sweatshops in China?
I doubt it.
For it's difficult to feel anything other than a mixture of anger and shame when one looks up at the tattered remnants still fluttering from local lamp posts. More rags than flags, they have literally been left to rot by those who raised them.
This neglect tells us all we need to know: the operation's organisers are far more focused on blanketing new areas to generate social media than maintaining existing displays. For while it takes effort putting the things up in the first place, it takes far more responsibility to remove and replace old flags and ensure they are disposed of safely.
(Standard petroleum-based polyester flags take anywhere from 20 to 200 years to decompose in a landfill and instead of returning naturally to the soil like organic material, they break down into toxic microplastics. One would have thought genuine patriots might be concerned about polluting the very soil they claim to love.)
In other words, it's relatively easy to make a short-term political gesture, but significantly harder to provide long-term care and commitment. As an apolitical vexillophobe who despises both sides of the tribal debate whilst also hating flags as flags - i.e., distinctively designed pieces of cloth intended as identifying symbols - I find the entire spectacle depressing.
Personally, I would be far more impressed if the people who loudly claim to love their country organised teams to regularly pick up local litter, or perhaps provide practical support to elderly neighbours who may need help with the shopping or odd jobs doing around the house.
Notes
[1] See 'Vexillophobia: You Can Wave Your Coloured Rag All You Wish Ms Dodsworth, But I'll Not Be Flying the Flag' (2 Sept 2025): click here.
[2] Laura Dodsworth, 'The Rise of Vexillophobia: fear of the flag is this nation's greatest malady', The Free Mind (31 August 2025): click here. The article is partly tongue in cheek, which is - for me at least - its saving grace.
