Far-right group plants English and Union Jack flags at Pen Y Fan summit

Emily Price

A far-right anti-immigration group based in Bristol has boasted of having “conquered” one of Wales’ most popular mountains after planting an English flag and a Union Jack at its summit.

Bristol Rises posted footage to social media at the weekend of two masked men sat in the dark on the stone cairn of south Wales’ largest peak, Pen Y Fan, in Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.

Moving in the breeze above the men was an English and Union Jack flag which had been planted into the ground either side of the mountain’s famous National Trust summit sign.

In a post to Facebook, Bristol Rises wrote: “TWO PROUD BRITS. ONE SUMMIT.

“886 metres above the noise. Pen y Fan conquered in the dead of night.

“Quiet conversations away from the crowd.

“Proud of where we come from. Respectful of where we stand.”

The controversial group claims to stand “with local residents who feel ignored”, describing itself on Facebook as an organisation that supports neighbourhoods “when authorities fall short”.

A pinned video on its Facebook page shows a group of its masked supporters wearing black and chanting “Bristol!” while red smoke from flares fills the air around them.

Bristol’s local media and anti-fascist organisations have characterised Bristol Rises as a far-right group because it primarily organises anti-migrant demonstrations targeting left-wing groups and anti-fascist activists.

On Facebook, Bristol Rises shares content focused on anti-immigration rhetoric and British nationalist messaging.

In recent weeks, the group has called for a British equivalent of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the controversial federal agency tasked with carrying out the Trump administration’s mass deportation programme.

Last month, Bristol Rises hit the headlines when its activities forced Cancer Research UK’s annual Bristol Shine Night Walk to be postponed.

Bristol Rises had called an unplanned “flash protest” on College Green in the heart of the city centre starting at 7:00pm on the same evening.

A counter-protest was later organised by a coalition of anti-racism groups.

Avon and Somerset Police told BristolLive that it had asked Bristol Rises to reschedule its demonstration, but that an agreement wasn’t reached.

Unable to guarantee the safety of the roughly 2,000 participants – many of them women and cancer survivors – Cancer Research UK was forced to reorganise its event at short notice.

Local reports described how the far-right group blasted drum’n’bass from a speaker while around 50 members took part, with some carrying posters demanding “antifa scum off our streets”.

Counter-demonstrations by anti-racism groups have consistently outnumbered the group’s own turnout.

Bristol Rises underwent a rebrand earlier this year having previously called themselves the ‘Bristol Patriots’.

The group was active from August 2025 when the far-right’s ‘Operation Raise the Colours’ movement rose to public prominence.

Around the same time, Bristol Patriots staged a series of anti-immigration protests outside Bristol hotels housing asylum seekers.

However, organisers running the controversial group deleted its Facebook page in March 2026 after announcing they were having a “reset”.

It came after footage emerged of a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi shouting “Heil Hitler” at two Jewish counterprotestors at a rally organised by Bristol Patriots.

Ben Pinker, one of the original organisers of the group, later launched the ‘Bristol Rises’ Facebook page.

Shortly after, the new group arrived at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital with a ladder and Union Jack flags which they tied to lampposts without permission.

The group said it wanted to “bring a bit of joy to patients and staff” at the hospital.

North Bristol NHS Trust quickly removed the flags, with a spokesperson for the trust saying the flags had created an “additional workload” for staff at the hospital.