England's most patriotic estate gets its St George's crosses out for the World Cup - and this time they are flying the flag for Scotland too

By WILL HALLOWELL, NEWS REPORTER Published: 11:07, 11 June 2026 | Updated: 11:21, 11 June 2026 England's 'most patriotic estate' has put up its famous flag display for the World Cup - and included Scotland. The Kirby estate is known for going all out when the Three Lions compete in a major tournament, and 2026 is no different. Residents have again decked out the estate in Bermondsey, south London with around 400 St George's Cross flags. But in a show of support for the Auld Enemy - who qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 - this year's edition also includes the Scottish Saltire. Chris Dowse, 47, who organises the decorations alongside his neighbours, said the estate welcomed residents wanting to show their own national pride. He said: 'We've always encouraged other people to make sure they put up a flag wherever they're from, and we'll take ours down and move them aside. 'We have got a Scot - Sarah - she's Scottish when she wants to be, her family's Scottish and she'll always put up an England flag, but when Scotland are involved, the Scotland flag will appear as well. 'And we have got another Scottish flag right where we call the focal point, where we have our big display right at the front of the estate. The Kirby estate, in Bermondsey, south London, (pictured) is known for going all out when the Three Lions compete in a major tournament Chris Dowse, 47, who organises the display and lives on the Kirby Estate, attaches the final Scotland flag ahead of the World Cup He estimates that neighbours have this year decked the estate with 400 St George's Crosses 'There's a fella there whose mum was Scottish and his dad was English, so he has a Scottish flag and an England flag as well.' Mr Dowse said the residents have only had to spend £20 this year, thanks to 'meticulous' organisation of their collection. The tradition started back in 2012 for the Euros, with this World Cup marking the 13th time residents have decorated their estate to commemorate an international tournament. Mr Dowse, a father-of-three who works in the entertainment industry, said: 'Last year when we took them down, we put them away meticulously, so when we bring them out we know exactly where they're going to go. 'They're all in individual bags, so it should make it pretty straightforward. 'This year, we're hoping when we bring them out everything's going to be A-OK, and we can put them up without worrying.' The tradition originally flew flags every two years, for the men's game. But with the success of the Lionesses, the estate began flying the colours yearly from 2019 onwards. Left to right: Alan Putman, Geraldine Howard and Chris Drowse, who all live on the Kirby Estate in Bermondsey Pictured: An England with the words '#KirbyEstate' flies high on the south London estate Pictured: Mr Putman and Mr Drowse set up cabling around the estate for the display In a show of support for the Auld Enemy, they have also hanged the the Scottish Saltire Mr Dowse said the residents have only had to spend £20 this year, thanks to 'meticulous' organisation of their collection Mr Dowse said the estate's collection of flags was 'nudging 400' - though the exact numbers are up in the air. He said: 'I found 37 new packs of bunting underneath my sofa in my garden. 'So, this year I think we're going to go heavy on the bunting, because they're unused from last year. 'Plus, in storage we've still got more packs of bunting we didn't use as well.' However, the decorations have led to some controversy in the past. Mr Dowse said the estate had previously been the subject of accusations of racism and of being 'far right'. He said: 'We don't do it too long in advance - we don't want to string it out that long, so they're up for weeks and weeks on end, even though we always keep a few dotted around the estate all year round. 'With what's going on in the world, we know that our reason for putting the flags up is solely about football. Pictured: A communal bike shed on the estate has also been decked with St George's Cross, adding to the 400 England flags that have been hanged ahead of the World Cup Mr Drowse said this year the community will go 'heavy on the bunting' The decorations have led to some controversy in the past with some labelling the community 'far-Right' over their show of support for England during football tournaments 'We don't want people getting the wrong idea - for years we had to battle "it's a racist estate", "far-Right headquarters", and all this sort of stuff. 'Over the years people have come to realise that's not what we're about and that's not what we do it for, that narrative's died down. We don't want to reignite the flame.' Flags were put up throughout the estate over the weekend, well ahead of England's first World Cup match against Croatia in Dallas, Texas, on June 17. The 2026 tournament starts on June 11 when Mexico host South Africa at the Azteca Stadium - a repeat of the 2010 tournament opener. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? 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