England Fans Must Remove Submarine from Flag Due to FIFA Ban
The World Cup is built on colour, noise and flags. England fans know that better than most. But a group of travelling supporters have discovered there are limits to what you can stitch onto a St George’s Cross.
A contingent of Barrow fans, proud of their Cumbrian roots, tried to take a customised England flag to matches. It carried their club badge and, alongside it, a silhouette of a submarine – a nod to Barrow’s long-standing association with shipbuilding and naval vessels.
That was enough for FIFA to say no.
Under tournament regulations, any fan wanting to display a flag inside stadiums must submit it for approval. When the Barrow group did exactly that, they were told their design breached rules banning images of “weapons or military” hardware.
The submarine, FIFA ruled, crossed the line.
“It's not like you can go down to the local Walmart and buy a submarine is it.”
For John Little, one of the fans behind the flag, the verdict jarred with the reality of what they were trying to celebrate.
The flag itself is hardly incendiary. A St George’s Cross, the Barrow badge, and the outline of a vessel that has become part of the town’s identity. No slogans. No provocation. Just hometown pride taken to the biggest stage in football.
Yet the ruling landed all the same. FIFA’s response, seen by the BBC, set out the decision in blunt terms: the application was rejected because the item “includes imagery of weapons or military (submarine). These are not permitted under FIFA policy.”
The message was clear: the submarine had to go, or the flag would stay outside.
Little, who is travelling to Boston for England’s match against Ghana on Tuesday, admitted he was stunned when the rejection came through.
“I couldn't believe it really,” he said. “It's a little bit harsh that they've done it for something like that. I could understand like guns and knives and what have you, but not a submarine.”
That distinction is exactly where the frustration lies. To the fans, the submarine is heritage. To FIFA, it is military hardware, and therefore off-limits under a policy designed to strip stadiums of overt political or militaristic symbols.
The reaction from fellow supporters has been predictably scathing. “People are just saying how ridiculous it is that they're not allowing the flag,” Little added, reflecting a wider sense that common sense has been lost in the bureaucracy.
FIFA has offered a compromise of sorts. The group were told they can cover up the submarine and resubmit the design for approval. If they do that, the governing body says it would be “happy to approve” the flag.
So the Barrow fans now face a choice: tape over a symbol of their town to get their flag through the turnstiles, or leave it intact and keep it in the stands outside.
On the pitch, England’s focus will soon turn to Ghana in Boston. In the stands, another small battle is playing out – over what a flag is allowed to say about where you come from, and how far football’s rulers should go in policing it.
