Singer Lily Allen has sparked controversy by declaring that displaying the St George’s Cross should be reserved solely for major football tournaments.
The 40-year-old artist made the remarks during a recent episode of her Miss Me podcast, where she was joined by Rizzle Kicks performer Jordan Stephens.
Ms Allen’s verdict on the St George’s flag comes amid a time of heightened tensions surrounding the symbolic gesture, with patriotic demonstrators up and down the country installing the emblem in an attempt to raise visibility of the country’s flag.
Ms Allen described encountering numerous patriotic displays during a recent motorway journey.
“Do you know, yesterday I was driving on the motorway, and the sheer volume of St. George’s Crosses and Union Jacks being hung from bridges and painted badly on roundabouts really made me think about what is going on here,” she told listeners.
When Mr Stephens questioned whether she opposed national pride, Ms Allen reinforced her position that such displays should be limited to specific sporting occasions.
“I mean, I think the only acceptable time for St George’s Cross is if England have made it into the finals of the Euros or the World Cup,” Allen stated on the programme. “That is, for me, the only time that we need to see those flags.”
Elsewhere during the podcast, Mr Stephens informed Ms Allen that St George was of Syrian heritage, with historians suggesting the patron saint was born in the late 3rd century in Cappadocia or Syria. Some claim he was raised in Palestine.
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“Oh, the irony. Palestinian? What? Hang on, you couldn’t write this s**t,” Ms Allen sarcastically responded upon learning about St George’s Middle Eastern connections.
The singer then suggested that if St George arrived in England today, he would face a different reception.
“No, he’d be being put up at a hotel and…’What’s your name? You say St. George? Come, come. We’ve got a Premier Travel Inn with your name all over it’,” she remarked, referencing asylum seeker accommodations.
Ms Allen’s comments haven’t gone down well with several members of the public, a number of whom have since taken to social media to condemn her remarks.
One X user responded to Ms Allen’s remarks with the tongue-in-cheek response: “Ah well I’ll leave the Euros, men’s & women’s, the Commonwealth Games, the odd Coronation, royal wedding etc! Don’t mind me Ms Allen if I completely ignore your views?!”
A second similarly hit back: “So why is alright to fly Scottish and Welsh flags at anytime? So please shut up you overpaid talentless moron.”
Meanwhile, a third pulled no punches, claiming Ms Allen “has absolutely no idea what she’s dribbling on about”, before they brutally added: “I’ve never known so much uneducated fantasy to come out of one mouth.
“She should stick to whatever she does for a living, and keep her anti-English trap shut.”
The flag debate has intensified following recent council decisions, with Portsmouth City Council announcing plans to remove St George’s crosses painted on road markings.
Dorset council leader Nick Ireland has characterised the movement as “intimidating” to residents, asserting that the St George’s flag has been “co-opted by certain far-Right groups to promote their agendas.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has stated he is “very encouraging” of citizens displaying national flags, though he cautioned they can lose value when flown “purely for divisive purposes.”
Ms Allen has previously attracted criticism for mocking England supporters following the team’s defeat to Spain in the 2024 Euros final, sharing an image depicting dejected fans wrapped in Union Jack flags.