St George’s Day falls on Thursday, April 23, and households across England are being warned to follow local council planning rules when flying the St George’s Cross or risk a £2,500 fine
Alex Evans Deputy Audience Editor and Benjamin Blosse
08:19, 23 Apr 2026
The flag of St George could land you a £2,500 fine if flown against the rules(Image: Getty)
The most patriotic day in the English calendar is today with householders cautioned not to risk a fine for unwittingly breaking the rules on displaying the flag of St George.
St George’s Day falls today (Thursday, April 23) but households could face a fine if they fly an England flag in a way that contravenes local council planning regulations, despite the national occasion.
According to the regulations, flags flown in violation can incur a £2,500 fine, followed by a penalty of one tenth of that amount each day following any conviction until the matter is resolved.
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While it probably doesn’t receive as much attention as St Patrick’s Day in Ireland, St David’s Day in Wales or St Andrew’s Day in Scotland, church services are held annually for St George’s Day, and events are typically staged in Trafalgar Square.
However, if you’re planning on flying an England flag for the occasion, you should be mindful of local council planning laws, which could technically see you handed a £2,500 fine if you breach them, reports the Express.
The Government says that in recent years it has relaxed the rules on flying flags, not just the Union Jack, but also the flags of England, Wales, Ireland and any national flag at all, as it wishes to encourage more flags to be flown in general.
The regulations for flying a flag on a roof are quite straightforward. The Government states that certain flags can be flown from rooftops of any size, provided they satisfy certain conditions. England flags – as well as Scottish flags, Commonwealth country flags, NHS and LGBT flags are all permitted to be flown from your home. These can be any size if they are flown from the roof, and will incur no fines as a result.
However, if you’re flying the flag on a flagpole ‘projecting from any part of the building other than the roof’, the flag cannot be larger than two metres squared in size.
Permission is required if you live in a controlled area, too, such as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Those who fail to comply with the regulations could be reported and, ultimately, fined up to £2,500 for refusing to comply with a request from your local council to remove an oversized flag.
One way to avoid this is to fly the flagpole from the roof instead. Under the law, flags on a vertical flagpole flown from the roof have no maximum size, unless you’re in an AONB.
The Government states: “Two flags on the same flagpole projecting from any part of a building are permitted provided one of the flags is from category (a) (flags which do not need consent), such as a national flag, and that flag is flown in the superior position.
“Otherwise, only one flag on a projecting flagpole on a building is permitted. The flag may not exceed 2 square metres in size.”
The Government’s rules on flags say: “All flags must be:
- maintained in a condition that does not impair the overall visual appearance of the site
- kept in a safe condition
- have the permission of the owner of the site on which they are displayed (this includes the Highway Authority if the sign is to be placed on highway land)
- not obscure, or hinder the interpretation of official road, rail, waterway or aircraft signs, or otherwise make hazardous the use of these types of transport
- be removed carefully where so required by the planning authority
The full list of flags that do not require consent are:
- Any country’s national flag, civil ensign or civil air ensign
- The flag of the Commonwealth, the United Nations or any other international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member
- A flag of any island, county, district, borough, burgh, parish, city, town or village within the United Kingdom
- The flag of the Black Country, East Anglia, Wessex, any part of Lincolnshire, any Riding of Yorkshire or any historic county within the United Kingdom
- The flag of Saint David (Wales)
- The flag of Saint Patrick (Ireland)
- The flag of any administrative area within any country outside the United Kingdom
- Any flag of His Majesty’s forces
- The Armed Forces Day flag
However, if you’re flying the flag from a pole extending from any part of a building other than the roof, stricter regulations apply. The Town and Country Planning Regulations 2007 stipulate that there are rules regarding the maximum size for flags displayed on your home if it’s on a pole, rather than on the roof.
The Government states: “The flag may not exceed 2 square metres in size. No restrictions on the size of characters. Consent is required if the flagpole is in a controlled area.”
Those who fail to comply with the regulations could be reported and, ultimately, fined up to £2,500 for refusing to adhere to a request from their local council to remove an oversized flag.
The law states: “A person displaying an advertisement in contravention of these regulations shall be liable, on summary conviction of an offence under section 224(3) of the Act, to a fine of an amount not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale and, in the case of a continuing offence, one tenth of level 4 on the standard scale [£2,500] for each day during which the offence continues after conviction.”
