What was claimed
A video shows Pakistani migrants removing a Union Jack flag and raising the Pakistan flag in response to the ‘raise the colours’ campaign.
Our verdict
This is misleading. The clip actually shows the flag of Pakistan being flown at the Consulate of Pakistan in Glasgow to mark the country’s Independence Day. No Union Jack was removed.
A video is circulating online with misleading claims it shows “Pakistani migrants” removing a Union Jack flag and raising the flag of Pakistan in its place, in response to the recent “raise the colours” campaign.
But the clip actually shows the Pakistan flag being raised at the country’s consulate in Glasgow, Scotland, where the Union Jack is not flown.
The footage, which has been shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook, shows two men raising the flag of Pakistan on a flagpole amid onlookers, one of whom can be seen waving a small version of the flag.
It’s captioned: “In response to the ‘Raise the Colours’ campaign by British patriots, Pakistani migrants across the UK have started removing Union Jack flags and raising the Pakistan flag.”
Text on the clip itself says: “FURY IN ENGLAND: Union Jacks taken down and replaced with foreign flags in UK cities - sparking outrage over who we really fly for. This is actually outrageous!”
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The video was not filmed in England, but within the grounds of the Consulate of Pakistan in Glasgow, Scotland.
The Consul General, Summar Javed, told Full Fact that the video was taken during a ceremony at the consulate as part of its annual commemoration of Pakistan’s Independence Day on 14 August.
Mr Javed said the claims in the social media posts were “false and misleading” and confirmed that the Union Jack is not flown at the consulate.
He said: “As per standard diplomatic practice, the flag of the country the embassy or consulate represents is flown, which in our case is the national flag of Pakistan.”
“Flag hoisting ceremonies are a standard diplomatic practice and are held by embassies and consulates of countries all around the world to celebrate their national days. The event was conducted peacefully, with members of the Pakistani community in attendance, and was no different from similar observances held by diplomatic missions globally.”
Looking at images on Google Street View of the consulate building dating back to 2008, we could find no evidence that the Union Jack has been seen flying outside the premises.
Before sharing videos that you see online, first consider whether they really depict what they claim to show—and whether they come from a trustworthy and verifiable source.
Our toolkit and guides to identifying misleading media can help you do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the video actually shows the flag of Pakistan being flown at the Consulate of Pakistan in Glasgow to mark the country’s Independence Day, and no Union Jack was removed.
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