St George and the Saltire: Flagging Up the Differences

With the 2026 World Cup underway, Adrian Goldberg explores how political notions of English and Scottish nationalism are entwined with love of the beautiful game

A look back at the crowd scenes when Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick fired England to World Cup glory in 1966 offers a remarkable insight into the national psyche at the time. There’s barely a St George’s flag in sight in the stands at Wembley.

Supporters backing Sir Alf Ramsey’s all-conquering side were waving Union flags instead. Even the tournament mascot, World Cup Willie, sported a red, white, and blue shirt – despite none of the games being staged in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

‘England’ was implicitly understood to be ‘Great Britain’ – and Britain was, to all intents and purposes, England.