Union Jacks torn down in Welsh town amid calls to BAN 'Wales' as country's official name

Union Jacks have been torn down by pro-independence campaigners in a Welsh town - just as calls to ban "Wales" as the country's name are rising.

A group named Mudiad Eryr Wen (MEW), describes itself - in English - as a "movement for the Welsh republican nationalist youth" and claims the flags removed were St George's Crosses, Union flags, and an Ulster loyalist flag.

Footage from the group shows an England flag being ripped off of lampposts near Wrexham's Cae Ras stadium.

In a statement, independence campaigners bristled: "Many locals have been infuriated and have called for their removal; this isn't the Shankill and it isn't welcome here.

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"Union Jacks have never been tolerated in the stands at Wrecsam, which speaks volumes about the sort of people putting them up.

"When this English nationalist fad of raising cheap flags first came to the area last year, it was local MEW activists that tore down both the English and 'British' flags from over the A483 near Rhiwabon. If need be, they will do so again."

The stripping of the flags follows the launch of a petition to "abolish" the name Wales and go only by Cymru.

The petition, created by John Price, accuses England of "imposing" the name Wales on Wales.

"Hardly anyone has heard of Cymru or realises that we have our own unique language and culture which is totally different from the other countries within the United Kingdom," it declares.

A previous petition from Arfon Jones received more than 10,000 signatures - but was not considered by the previous Welsh Labour Government.

But under Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru, who took power for the first time in 2026, petitioners may be more successful in their hopes to change the country's name.

The petition, open to signatures until December 30 this year, also calls for cities, towns and villages in Wales to ditch their English names.

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Referring to Turkey and the Czech Republic, it added: "Türkiye and Czechia are examples of countries that have undergone name changes, and we've also seen the success of our national parks using Welsh names and gaining wider international attention."

MEW was first formed in December 2022.

In a 10-point manifesto, the group called for the abolishment of the Royal Family and the "illegitimate 'Prince of Wales'", that England be "required to pay for the resources" it "extracts" from Wales, and to make holiday lets in the country "economically untenable".

It also notably calls for Wales to "end its reliance on fossil fuels and create a green economy in harmony with nature".

In 2025, members of the group held a sign reading "Welsh not British" in Wrexham.

The number of Welsh language speakers in Wrexham fell from 12.9 per cent in 2011 to 12.2 per cent in 2021.

Of residents within Wrexham, just over half (50.2 per cent) identified only as Welsh and not British.

Just one in 12 people identified as Welsh and British.

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