Fact check: Photograph of St George’s Cross is from 11 years ago

A photograph was shared on social media with the caption “Residents hang the St George’s flag on Broadway Tower in Worcestershire, England”.

Other social media users have interpreted the events depicted in the photo as being a political statement.

Evaluation

The caption is accurate and the photograph does not appear to have been altered in any way. However, it is not a recent picture, as it was taken in 2014.

The post does not claim that the photograph was taken recently, however, it fails to point out that the image does not depict the apparent recent surge in people hanging England flags across the country.

In fact, the image was part of an event to celebrate the start of asparagus season on St George’s Day in 2014.

The facts

The image in the post was taken by PA photographer Joe Giddens on April 23 2014 and was part of both the St George’s Day celebrations and to mark the start of asparagus season.

The caption added to the photograph reads: “Broadway Tower in Worcestershire is dressed in the flag of St George as part of the celebrations marking the start of asparagus season.”

The photo is available on image database Alamy (which is owned by the company behind the PA news agency). The database also contains other pictures from the same celebrations.

Recently, St George’s Cross flags have been hung on lampposts and other street infrastructure in several locations in England.

Links

Post on X (archived)

Second post on X (archived)

Image on Alamy (archived)

Alamy Limited on Companies House (archived)

Second image on Alamy (archived)

Third image on Alamy (archived)

England flags spark pride and concern amid anti-immigration protests (archived)