Hearts & Minds: Patriotism or provocation? The pr perils of flying the flag

The Mall and West End of London are awash with Union flags yet fly that symbol at home and you’re marked down as extreme. Same with the cross of St George. Display it on your car, in your window at home and you’re a nationalist and that is bad. This summer, flying the flag has become fraught as they are brandished by protesters outside asylum hotels and seized upon by right-wing politicians.

Reclaiming the national symbol is difficult, certainly at present. You are accused, inevitably, of shutting out one type of person. For some companies this is especially awkward because they have long flown the flag, perfectly innocently, on the logo, outside their headquarters and offices. Now they find themselves being accused of something they’re not. For others, who may wish to do the same, again for sound promotional reasons, to do with geography and identity, the identical issues arise.

For those in comms, it is about reclaiming the narrative, about explaining why. Some people will always choose not to listen but others will. Slowly but surely, simply and reasonably, tell your story. Make you sure you do so honestly and openly. You can win through; you will be understood. What can happen as well in situations like this is that the tide might turn – that at some point, the majority will prevail, the minority arguments dissipate and those signs become more generally acceptable. There are indications of that occurring. If every public building flew the Union flag, if it was everywhere, on all high streets, the sectionalism would quieten down. Calls are being made to that effect. The cross of St George is trickier – Britain is not one nation but four. Nationalism remains a deeply sensitive subject. But it too can prevail without provocation, as the sight of a packed, passionate Wembley or Twickenham suggests.

The flag debate is itself symbolic of the times in which we live, where all descriptors are capable of being taken out of context and conflated. We find ourselves every day in what we do and say, corporately and individually, treading on eggshells. Heed the words of the author Zadie Smith: ‘All I want to do with my work is to take words like black, British or woman and stretch them so they’re big enough so I can live in them comfortably.’ That should be the goal. Comms has never been more difficult but more needed.

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.