Govanhill at the centre of Glasgow’s flag wars

With the appearance of Saltire flags across Scotland, led by a nationalist group, a hybrid Saltire and Palestine flag began popping up around Glasgow, including Govanhill, in response. The flags have sparked both division and unity, raising conversations around migration, identity and solidarity in public spaces. Writer Zara explores the issue further in the latest edition of the magazine.

By Zara Grew | Photo by Iain McLellan

Around the start of October, a new sight started to appear on Victoria Road recently – half Palestine, half Scotland flags flying on lampposts. They have also started to pop up elsewhere around the city – from Shawlands to the Glasgow University campus in the West End. 

In other areas of Glasgow, meanwhile, there has been an increase in Saltires and the Lion Rampant flags. These are believed to have been flown as part of the national ‘Raise the Colours’ movement – a controversial campaign that says it is ‘showing unity and patriotism across every town and city.’ It has been backed by anti-immigration groups such as Britain First and extreme far-right figures such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson. 

In the north of Glasgow, the Tartan Team have claimed responsibility for putting up the Saltire flags, raising over  £1,120 to do so via GoFundMe. They claim to be a group of “young dads” with “genuine fears over real problems this country is facing” and deny association with the far right voices behind ‘Operation Raise the Colours’. However, the Daily Record revealed that the co-founder of the Tartan Team and creator of the GoFundMe page holds extreme racist and fascist views which were shared on a now-deleted X account, solidifying concerns that the Saltire flags have been put up with racist and exclusionary sentiment.

The people of Govanhill have been showing solidarity with Palestine in a range of different ways from the pot banging protests in Queen’s Park to the Apartheid Free Zone campaign which has been rallying local businesses to boycott brands complicit in Israel’s occupation of Palestine. 

However, this particular show of solidarity has ruffled the feathers of the far right as the flags are not only a sign of support for Palestine but act as a protest against the far right’s flag domination we have seen across the UK. 

The hybrid flags have also become a national talking point with GB News parachuting into the streets of Govanhill looking to capture residents 'outrage’ at the Palestine-Scotland flags. Many people in the area refused to speak to them, but they conducted two interviews where people could be considered more apathetic than outraged at the flags. The reporter even acknowledged that the Southside: “Is a part of Glasgow which has long been home to refugees and asylum seekers who have found homes here in Glasgow – it makes sense that there is a strong support for Palestine.”

We asked on social media for other responses to the flags and heard many more positive comments, One person said: “Hate how my beloved flag was weaponised by those who hate! I was actually on the number 7 bus turning into Victoria Road…and I caught these out of the corner of my eye. It made me smile.” Not everyone supported them,with some expressing broad discomfort at flags being used to divide generally. As one person said:: “Tribalism sucks. No flags please, whatever type.”

The Palestine-Scotland flags were created and originally put up by United in Resistance who run an online shop which sells the hybrid flag along with keffiyeh scarves and ‘protest-ready’ t-shirts. Their profits go directly to humanitarian aid for Palestine. The flags have led to a ‘Flags for Freedom’ fundraiser by the Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee and the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which is currently looking for donations to ‘fill the streets with solidarity flags’. 

The Scotland flag, which has long been a symbol of freedom, inclusivity and hope, is now being used as a tool to fearmonger and make people feel unsafe and unwelcome by extreme right wing activists. 

As the first place for the Scotland-Palestine flags to fly, Govanhill is part of the story of resistance where the hybrid flag challenges the politics of division and stands up to the narrative of the UK nationalist, anti-migrant flag movement.