So I'm gonna assume that you are British, 'cause I'm living in the UK right now and this is a very real problem here.

All I can say is this... waving the St. George's Cross or even the Union Jack was only really a thing for football events and the occasional quirky fella who loved the flags.

But in recent times, it has been very explicitly adopted by the far right. They like to claim it is an apolitical thing that is just for "showing pride in one's country", but then they wave it at protests against immigrants, vandalize public property with St. George's Cross imagery, and tie it up on flagpoles up and down roads around the country.

And again, I'd be happy to take it as national pride. I grew up in a country where we'd have a "national day" annually and the national flag would be hung up on every streetpole down major roads across the major cities in the country. But then in the UK, the one and only instance of overt racism I experienced was while walking down one of these flag-riddled roads and a guy driving a van with a St. George's Cross hat decided to roll down his window, and scream at me to "GET OUT!" several times before driving off.

There was also a moment when I was literally just at a Gregg's in central London and some dude holding the St. George's Cross flag decided to keep staring at me the whole time I was there. Turns out there was a protest going on a couple of streets over, and I ran into a few of them waving flags along the way. But I'm still gonna give this guy the pass 'cause like... whatever, you can stare at me all you want I guess. We're in a public place.

Point is, this flag is being heavily co-opted by the xenophobic racists right now. I feel for the people who love the flag, 'cause it is an awesome flag. But these people are making sure that we all associate it with xenophobia and racism. As someone who is a target of these things, I cannot take the benefit of the doubt here. If I see a pub that had 0 flags a year ago and now suddenly is covered in English flags, I have to avoid it.

It's simply a matter of safety at this point. We can't take it easy around people who fly the flag, 'cause it's mostly flown in instances of xenophobia and racism. The only way your country's flag can be reclaimed from the racists, is with a movement to fly the flag in support of diversity and against nationalism. But that's no easy thing to do.

P.S.: If your country's isn't the UK, then I'm terribly sorry. I've made the wrong assumption, but it sounds like your country is facing similar issues. Which is unsurprising in this day and age, unfortunately.