Will the flags issue continue to fester?

Each July my father made a choice not to erect a Union Jack outside our home, which was in a predominantly unionist area. This was out of respect to our neighbours, who were Catholic.

However, this piece is not really about the flying of emblems from private property.

Along many streets in various parts of Northern Ireland, flags of various sorts fly high and proud on public lampposts and there they can remain until the wind reduces them to tatters.

In the past flags were carefully put up, taken down and reused the following year. Traditions are built on ritual and so it could be said that mass production, over proliferation and prolonged flying of flags have actually devalued the concept of commemoration/celebration.

More chillingly flags are also used to intimidate and mark territory, warning “themmuns” against moving into new developments.

Private property developers are increasingly inserting a restrictive covenant against the flying of flags in the transfer deeds, indicating that flags may have a detrimental effect on the desirability of properties.

Paramilitary flags are a particularly shameful stain on our society.

I feel their presence, as well as seeing their insignia. They are (meant to be) sinister and are an ominous reminder of a proscribed source of power in our society. On calling them out, the silence from many politicians is deafening. I have seen election posters sharing a lamppost with the flag of a proscribed organisation and yet no-one seems to bat an eyelid, while I shake my head in perplexity. It is worth saying that it isn’t always people from the locality who put paramilitary flags up and fear prevents people from speaking out against them or taking them down.

In July 2023 Nuala McAllister asked the Chief Constable for the PSNI policy on the removal of flags, particularly paramilitary flags that have been erected without permission on public property.

The answer is here.

So, according to the PSNI “there is no such thing as an illegal flag, only the illegal intentions of the person possessing or erecting it. The fact that a flag is paramilitary in nature does not necessarily give rise to a provable criminal offence, nor does it provide an automatic right for the police or other agencies to remove it from public view.”

Unfortunately and incredibly, in 2025 there is still no clear framework on the erection or removal of flags flying from public property, despite various consultations and reports over the years.

It is the Alliance Party who appear willing to grab this particular tribal bull by the horns.

Last June, South Belfast MLA Paula Bradshaw submitted a Private Members Bill proposing a regulatory framework to enable the display of emblems on street furniture (such as lamp posts, telegraph poles and safety barriers) within a Code of Conduct.

It should be noted that the Bill does not concern private property.

She is hoping the Bill will implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on Flags, Identity, Culture and Tradition to tackle flags and banners on public property, particularly those supporting proscribed paramilitary organisations, published in December 2021.

At the time of submitting the Bill she said:

“It is now nearly three years since the Commission’s report, into which all parties had input, that outlined a fair and reasonable Protocol under which flags, banners and emblems could be flown, for a defined period, from public property. There has, however, been no action on this since.

The penalty for this inaction is clear to society as a whole. This week alone, we saw reports of public money being paid to organisations not to put up flags which clearly invite support for proscribed organisations. We are also seeing new housing estates defaced with emblems and flags clearly designed to mark territory. More than a quarter of a century on from the Agreement, this is a fundamental failure of public policy.”

The legislation would seek to:

• establish a regulatory framework for the display of emblems (such as on flags, banners and posters) on street furniture (e.g. lamp posts);
• ensure that displays are for the purposes of celebration and commemoration, and for a reasonable time period; and,
• clarify whose responsibility it is to remove emblems displayed unlawfully (including paramilitary flags and posters expressing racial hatred).

A twelve week consultation has now begun on the Bill.

Given all that has passed before (or rather not passed) it remains uncertain as to whether this will gain any kind of consensus.

The TUV have already and predictably voiced their opposition. In the Newsletter TUV party chairman Keith Ratcliffe claims that the maximum option of one month suggested for the display of emblems from street furniture is insufficient because:

“this takes no account of the fact that height of the marching season runs from the end of June when many mini Twelfth and arch openings are held until the last Saturday in August when the Royal Black Institution parades. Many towns remain tastefully decorated for this entire period.”

He goes on to say:

“Should these proposals pass it will result in another aspect of unionist culture – in addition to parading – being policed by the state while republican culture is championed. TUV will oppose these transparently double standards.”

Personally, I think the proposals make perfect sense and in any normal society they would have been legislated for long ago.