Stars and gripes! US flags used by UK for Presidential visits were rejected by Team Trump for not being MAGA red – leaving taxpayers puce in the face and footing a £50,000 bill to replace them
The UK government spent more than £50,000 to replace US flags for Donald Trump’s state visit because they were the wrong shade of red.
Officials were supposedly forced to replace 66 hand-sewn Stars and Stripes flags last month, at a cost of £800 each, ahead of the President’s three-day visit in September.
A lighter ‘cherry red’ version of the US flag was ordered to replace the old banners, which the Americans decided were no longer ‘right for them’.
Nick Farley, the managing director of the government’s official flag supplier, said the changes were made to avoid potentially ‘insulting’ the US delegation.
Mr Farley’s company, the Flag Consultancy, supplies polyester flags for several Government departments and has provided banners for numerous state visits and royal events, including the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Dozens of US and British flags were flown along the Mall and the streets near Windsor Castle in Berkshire, where Trump stayed, during his second state visit last month.
Trump and his wife Melania were treated to the full array of British pageantry as the President was given the largest military ceremonial welcome for a state visit in living memory.
Same stars, new stripes: The red in the US flags matched the President’s tie when he met Keir Starmer at Chequers last month
The US flags had a more muted tone of red when President Trump met Theresa May in 2019
Trump raises a clenched fist in the air as he walked hand-in-hand with his wife Melania across the tarmac at Stansted Airport after arriving in the UK for his three-day state visit
‘Before a state visit, we have to provide samples and go to the embassies in London to get sign-off. Countries find it insulting if we get our colours wrong,’ Mr Farley told The Telegraph.
‘The Americans decided that the red we use, which is called R01, wasn’t right for them, and that they wanted a cherry red instead, so we had to buy all new flags for this visit.’
Trump and Melania arrived in the UK on September 16, where he joined Charles, his wife Queen Camilla and other royals and dignitaries for a carriage procession, with the route lined by 1,300 British service personnel.
There was a further military parade and a flypast by the Red Arrows aerobatics team, but poor weather meant British and US F-35 military jets – a symbol of bilateral defence collaboration – could not join.
The President and the First Lady also found time for a private meeting with the King’s elder son Prince William and his wife Kate, which was described by the prince’s spokesperson as ‘warm and friendly’.
Trump later praised ‘beautiful’ Kate and said William was ‘going to have unbelievable success in the future’.
He made little secret of his delight at being not just the first US leader, but the first elected politician to be invited for two state visits, saying it was ‘truly one of the highest honours of my life’.
A Government spokesman said: ‘Our historic US state visit brought record-breaking investment into the UK of £150bn – boosting jobs and catapulting growth.’
The Daily Mail has contacted the US embassy in London and The Flag Consultancy for comment.
