Council did not order mural to be removed because it features the Union Jack

Multiple online posts have suggested a London council ordered a fish and chip shop to paint over a mural because it features a Union Jack. But the south-east London council has confirmed the decision has nothing to do with the flag.

The mural, which is painted on an exterior wall outside the Golden Chippy in Greenwich, shows a cartoon fish wearing a hat and waistcoat, holding a Union Jack and a chip with text saying: “A Great British Meal”.

One post says: “How ashamed are we of our wonderful Union Jack flag that a council are forcing a best voted fish and chips in London, that they are being made to remove the mural of it [sic]”. Some comments under the posts suggest social media users think the Union Jack was behind the council’s decision for the mural to be removed.

The story was originally published in the Telegraph on 16 March, which reported initial comments from a spokesperson for the Royal Borough of Greenwich saying there’d been “a number of complaints” about the mural and that it is “effectively an unauthorised advert for the chip shop”. 

The council released a further statement on 18 March saying: “You may have seen several headlines over the weekend about a business in Greenwich. Whilst it’s not always appropriate to comment on individual cases, contrary to reports this has nothing to do with the Union Flag or any of the painting’s contents.

“The advert has been painted, without any permission, in a conservation area, close to a World Heritage Site. The Council is acting according to Government planning laws, as it would with any unauthorised advert.

“Any suggestions this is because of the Union Flag are disingenuous and untrue. The business owner is welcome to apply for advert consent in line with the conservation area he is in.”

The restaurant is located within the Ashburnham Triangle Conservation Area and is subject to an Article 4 Direction, which means planning permission is required for any painting to the property exterior beyond routine maintenance. 

Even if it wasn’t in a conservation area, the mural may have still required permission from the council. Town planning laws state that advertisements for a company on its own premise require consent if they exceed 0.3 square metres in area, or have a character or symbol more than 0.75m in height (or 0.3m in an area of special control). 

We’ve previously written about other false claims relating to the Union Jack, including that waving it will result in arrest and that it was banned from Scottish government buildings.