Speaking to those who are uneasy with the proliferation of flags and those who support it is a journey of discovery
If it started anywhere it was among the suburban streets off a large roundabout in Weoley Castle, known by local people in this part of south-west Birmingham’s urban sprawl as “the square”.
From Falkirk to Folkestone, Harwich to Holyhead, fluttering off the Angel of the North and marked out on a Wiltshire white horse, the national colours of England and the United Kingdom, and Scotland and Wales to a lesser extent, have been on show across the country in recent weeks.
Explanations abound as to the genesis of the flag-hoisting and street furniture painting. Some associate the outbreak with its most extreme cheerleaders, of whom Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, may be the best-known.
It was certainly an initiative Robinson had been been keen to exploit before his so-called free speech rally in London on Saturday, to which an estimated 110,000 people were drawn and where 26 police officers were injured in skirmishes.
