Flag-flying patriotism is a rarity in England, but there are few things that seem to make people as proud of being English as a major football tournament, and this year’s World Cup is no exception.

The country is awash with bunting and St. George’s Cross flags and people who usually have no interest in the ‘beautiful game’ suddenly care deeply about how England’s boys are performing on (and off) the pitch.

And you don’t even need to know much about football to take part in the national obsession. Water cooler talk about David Beckham’s hair, Wayne Rooney’s foot, or indeed the scandalous exploits of the so-called WAGs (wives and girlfriends), led by queen bee Victoria Beckham, means nobody need feel left out.

Retailers have reported record sales of not only flags, but a wide range of flag-decorated items including bra straps and dog vests.

Indeed, so many drivers have flags on their cars and trucks that the Environment Agency has issued a warning about the fuel cost of so-called “flag-drag.”

Even the prime minister has not held back.

Despite criticism that flying the England flag (rather than the British Union Jack) is a snub to Ireland, Scotland and Wales, Tony Blair proudly declared he would indeed be flying the St. George’s Cross at Downing Street during the tournament.

“The idea that it’s wrong to put the England flag up … come on,” Blair told reporters recently. “It’s the flag of England, it would be completely absurd.”

But the flag flying, gossiping about the WAGs and patriotic songs hitting the airwaves is about much more than just the game.

The England team, whether it’s football, rugby or cricket, increasingly serves as a powerful expression of identity in a country that is somewhat bashful and at times almost apologetic in its patriotism.

Unlike in Canada and the United States, flag flying for the love of the country just isn’t the done thing in England, except maybe on the Queen’s birthday, or for a royal wedding.

And yet come a major international sporting event, everything changes and the contradictary phenomonen that is English nationalism passionately emerges amid a sea of red and white.

But is this really about the love of football?

Or is it more about seizing the scarce opportunity to express commonality and celebrate England’s national identity in a country where flying the cross of St. George is often seen as a sinister symbol of far-right extremism?

Xenophobic associations

Since the 1970s, both the Union Jack and the Cross of St. George have been hijacked by extreme right-wing groups such as the British National Party.

These groups have long adorned their brochures and podiums with flag imagery and many people fear that flying the flag means they will be associated with xenophobic English views.

Some districts, such as Rochdale in Greater Manchester, even previously tried to ban cabbies from flying the flag for fear it would stir up racial tensions in the town.

And of course, in such a class-conscious country, there are those who point out that flag-flyers tend to be working class, even claiming that flags on homes lower property values.

Recently, however, there has been a move to “reclaim” the flag from its sinister associations and bring it back into the mainstream.

The British Retail Consortium says this year the flag has “really taken off” and estimates that the month-long World Cup will generate around $2 billion in retail sales.

The July 2005 terror attacks on London may have played a part in the apparent rise in patriotism.

After Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people on London’s transit system, a St. George’s flag was hung outside a bombed subway station next to the banner: “Bombed but not beaten.”

The growth of the European Union, coupled with the devolution of some powers to Scotland and Wales, has also spurred the debate about what constitutes ‘Englishness.’

So for a country whose national day goes largely unnoticed, a major international sporting tournament such as the World Cup presents a rare opportunity to not only assert a national identity, but to be part of a common goal.

“I’m not sure if the World Cup makes people feel more English, but it makes them feel more bonded together,” said John Williams, head of Sociology and Sport at the University of Leicester.

“Some will put flags on their cars because they are patriotic, other people do it because they feel involved somehow.”

By: Sarah Challands