The flags you can fly legally during the World Cup - the new laws explained

If you're thinking of making a big show of supporting England this summer you won't want your efforts to be flagged up by the law.

Three Lions supporters wanting to show the St George's Cross - or just stick a couple of little plastic flags on their car - need to be aware there are rules and regulations over exactly what can be flown.

And these rules were changed by the Government recently.

Luckily the changes are good news for all football fans - as all national flags are now free to be flown, reports Birmingham Live .

So what's the law now?

Here's what you need to know.

Flags which do not need consent

The recent changes allow a wider range of national, sub-national, community and international flags.

The full list of flags that do not require consent are:

(a) Any country’s national flag, civil ensign or civil air ensign;

(b) The flag of the Commonwealth, the European Union, the United Nations or any other international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member;

(d) 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;

(e) The flag of Saint David;

(f) The flag of Saint Patrick;

(g) The flag of any administrative area within any country outside the United Kingdom;

(h) Any flag of Her Majesty’s forces;

(i) The Armed Forces Day flag.

The flags of St George and St Andrew are recognised as the national flags of England and Scotland, but the flags of St David and St Patrick are listed separately as they do not necessarily fall into the category of a country’s national flag.

Why were the changes made?

The changes were made amid calls for common sense.

It came after a number of cases in 2010, during the World Cup in South Africa, where councils asked for flags to be taken down on health and safety grounds.

Before the changes, it was illegal to fly a national flag without permission from a local council - unless flown from a vertical flagpole.

A Peterborough family fell foul of the regulations during the World Cup when they were threatened with prosecution for flying the cross of St George outside their home.

But a compromise was reached when the city council said the flags could be flown but only on special occasions.

The council had claimed that a single vertical pole would have been fine but because two St George flags were flown at an angle to the house they were classed as advertising.

What about flying flags on cars?

The issues to consider about driving with flags attached to the car are:

Vision - does the flag obscure the driver or any others drivers' vision of the road?
Could it be classed as an insecure load, i.e. likely to come off and cause damage/injury?
The size of the flag - a normal flag (usually about the size of A4 paper) would not normally cause any problems but obviously the larger the flag the more potential for problems.
There is an offence of having a mascot/emblem on the car that, if the vehicle were to collide with someone, the mascot would strike them and cause injury. If the mascot is not likely to cause injury to a person by reason that it may bend, retract or detach itself from the vehicle then no offence would be committed.

So, although there is not a specific offence, you could commit an offence by having a flag on your car. It is the officer's discretion whether or not to take matters further if he/she feels that an offence has been committed.