RUGBY, England—Stuart Field raised his first flags in July: the English red cross of St. George and also a smattering of the British red, white and blue, hanging them from his hometown’s streetlights.

The title of Evelyn Waugh’s wartime novel Put Out More Flags refers to a superficial and self-serving patriotism that takes the place of genuine effort or sacrifice. Waugh used the phrase, taken from ...

Operation Raise the Colours has swelled the nation with pride as motorists flash under bridges and pedestrians doff their flat caps to England’s red cross and the union flag. By jingo it’s been fun.