What’s in a Flag? In 2026, Cause for Concern in Northern Ireland

I was driving in the suburban Newtownabbey area just north of Belfast recently. I went up past the Ballyduff estate, on my way to Larne or Carnlough, I forget. My attention was drawn to some flags on lampposts, at a crossroads, which I didn’t recognise. I have learnt to tune out the various assortment of flags. The Union Jack, The Ulster Banner, Orange Order flags, flute band flags, State of Israel, or even Danish flags.

However, this flag drew my attention. They were four bright red flags, with bold, capitalised white text reading: “Jesus is King”. I thought to myself they were novel and unprecedented, but put it out of my mind, and went on my merry way. Last week, I then passed through the infamous Cloughfern Roundabout. The lampposts surrounding this tiny roundabout were again covered in the red flags and white flags with a red cross and black text reading “Jesus: The Way, the Truth, the Life”.

This was unusual, as “Marching Season” does not occur for another 5 months, yet the usual Union Jacks and Ulster Banners were huge and proliferated around the streets, joined by these ambiguous Christian-themed flags. I think today was the moment the unconscious became conscious to me, when I drove past Belfast City Airport. On the footbridge over the dual carriageway, the bridge railings were cloaked in large and unavoidable “Jesus: The Way, The Truth, the Life” flags.

I dug around on the web when I arrived home out of curiosity. I found images of a massive parade in Belfast of 6,000 people from August 2025, where a number of those same flags were front and centre.

This march, titled the “March for Jesus”, had its own website, which indicated a financial association with Christian Voice Ireland. A cursory glance at news reports revealed Christian Voice Ireland have been variously labelled extremists or troublemakers in the Republic in Ireland – more specifically, Christian Nationalists. Another “March for Jesus” has been scheduled for the 16^th May coming in Belfast.

The flags themselves are easy to find on Amazon UK, and are sold by the company “Anley Inc.”, which is allegedly headquartered in California. A look at the company address provided on Maps shows a bungalow in a residential neighbourhood. The individuals who run the company can be found on the California Business registry and have names from China and Hong Kong. One is listed as residing at a different property, which seems to be up for sale at the moment, and empty, according to the realtor’s website.

This individual’s name appears in the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists registry and is connected to Portcullis TrustNet. It is not clear if they are the same person, but a brief dig around shows that Portcullis TrustNet is principally based out of Singapore, and provides opaque offshoring support to elites in Africa, Thailand, Azerbaijan, and the US. I didn’t quite get what any of this has to do with selling flags on Amazon to people on council estates in Northern Ireland.

The association between the unexpected flags of dubious origin and an Irish Christian Nationalist pressure group which organised large marches in Belfast was concerning. More concerning still was the connection between Christian Voice Ireland, and the Christian Institute, who provided support and coverage of the march.

This Institute is headquartered in the corner of a sparse industrial park, on the outskirts of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, between an insurance broker and an accountant’s office. It is also allegedly headquartered in an office complex building in East Belfast, yet it cannot be found in the office’s own tenant directory.

This ambiguous Institute also met with Paul Givan in 2024. He is the Minister of Education in Northern Ireland, and more notably, part of the DUP. Givan also met with the Loyalist Communities Council in 2024, the public body for Loyalist Paramilitaries. These same Paramilitaries hold sizeable influence in council estates to determine which flags can and cannot go up on lampposts. When you draw these elements together, there is undoubtedly some element of communication or coordination going on. Perhaps even a broader strategy. At this point my curiosity has turned to serious concern.

I am aware of the wider context across the island. The far-right is developing in the Republic and Northern Ireland, aided by extremist connections from around the world and Trump-related political coordinators from the USA. When we consider that the flags themselves are connected to a US patriot themed company website connected to a dubious company which is clearly trying to hide itself, there is something bigger at play.

I am concerned for those I know who are migrants, transgender and LGBTQ+; who are persons of colour, or from minoritised ethnicities. I am concerned for the women I know. I am concerned for men I know, who are good people at heart but could be led down a garden path, or conversely hurt while standing up against the tendency these flags embody. What concerns me is that one of these flags is a minute away from my doorstep.

When I go out to work in the morning, I will now understand what they represent. I don’t know what yet to do about them. If I, and others like me, don’t do something about the flags soon, I have to wonder – what comes after the flags?

Image: G. Armstrong.

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