The England flag, in particular, has been co-opted by far right extremists and racists for decades, unfortunately. The more mainstream use of it is for football matches, but aside from that it’s somewhat akin to flying the confederate flag.

Gotcha, yea not great if that's the apt comparison. Though I saw a lot of flags of Scotland in Scotland. I assume Wales is similar. May be different when you are the country with 90% of the people and total priority in Parliament.

It’s unfair really because the England flag shouldn’t inherently be associated with secessionists and racists. Having normal politicians reclaim it would be good. Welsh and Scottish nationalism are traditionally left wing but English nationalism very much isn’t. Probably due to the dynamic you ID.

Scottish National Party = free college for everyone British National Party = send “them” back to Africa.

The culture around flags is very different in the U.S. than it is in many other countries. In the U.K. such flags are much more likely to be interpreted as evidence of nationalist sentiment.