We hear a great deal of publicity surrounding councils, Police and other official bodies telling people to take down their flags.

Usually the reasons for this are not adequately explained, the press dont want to say because it would otherwise ruin a perfectly good story.

The flying of flags is specifically Excluded from the local government's control since the 1992 the regulations say:

"A national flag of any country. Any national flag may be flown on a single vertical flagstaff, so long as it does not have anything added to the design of the flag or any advertising material added to the flagstaff."

What this means is that you can put up a vertical flag pole and fly the Cross of St George and no-one can say anything to you. If they do sue them.

Where many people come unstuck is that they fly England flags which gace writing on them, or other designs, such as some of the alternative England flags we have fetaured here.

  The St Edmund flag may not be judged to be legal.

The council will then proclaim this is an advertisement and demand it's removal.

You can (if you wanted to) fly any other national flag from the pole, what you cannot do is fly unofficial flags.

Now this is cleared up there are no excuses for not getting one!