J.D. Vance brands opposition to England’s flag as “craziness” and warns Europe faces free speech threats

U.S. Vice-President J.D. Vance has escalated a simmering culture row, urging people to “push back against the crazies” who object to displays of the St George’s Cross in England.

His intervention comes amid the Operation Raise the Colours campaign, where activists have been tying English flags to lampposts and painting roundabouts. Local councils in Birmingham and Tower Hamlets removed some of these flags after complaints, sparking debate over whether the national emblem has been tainted by far-right associations.

In an interview, Vance drew a direct link between the controversy in Britain and disputes that flared in the United States during the Black Lives Matter protests. Asked whether offence over the English flag reminded him of similar tensions surrounding the American flag, he agreed and said the parallels were striking.

He recalled how one of his friends had been too afraid to fly the U.S. flag in 2020. “It’s OK to be proud of your country,” Vance said. “In fact, it’s good. We should push back against the crazies who say we should be too ashamed of our culture and heritage to fly a flag. It’s craziness. We’ve got to call that craziness out. I’d encourage our European friends to follow suit.”

The vice-president has repeatedly positioned himself as a defender of free expression. Earlier this month, he clashed with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy over what he described as a “dark path” of censorship in the UK. He pointed to the case of Adam Smith-Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and former Army veteran charged for silently praying near an abortion clinic without obstructing anyone. To Vance, the incident signalled a worrying erosion of freedom of conscience.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer responded by insisting that Britain remained firmly committed to free speech. “We’ve had free speech for a very long time, it will last a long time, and we are very proud of that,” he said.

The row over the flag coincides with Vance’s summer holiday in Britain. Despite previously provoking outrage by declaring London was “not English any more,” he spent part of the season with his family in the Cotswolds. He also met with Lammy at the official residence of Chevening House, where the pair attended Mass together and reflected on their Catholic faith and challenging upbringings.

Though the tone of those talks was more conciliatory, Vance’s public statements have continued to carry a sharp edge. By casting the St George’s Cross as a symbol of heritage under siege, he has aligned himself with grassroots campaigners while amplifying accusations that critics of the flag are driven by hostility to national pride.

The controversy highlights a broader struggle in both Britain and the United States: how to balance cultural expression with sensitivity in increasingly diverse societies. Vance’s call to “push back” positions him squarely against those who argue that public symbols of nationalism can alienate minority communities.

For his supporters, his words resonate as a defiant defence of identity and tradition. For his critics, they risk inflaming culture wars on both sides of the Atlantic. What remains clear is that a row about flags has now grown into a larger battle over speech, identity, and the future of Western values.