England fans travelling to FIFA World Cup venues have been warned that some flags and banners may be confiscated if they breach stadium rules.
FIFA’s current stadium policies for the 2026 World Cup allow small flags, banners and posters made of fire-resistant material up to 2m x 1.5m, but larger items must be approved in advance through the event organisers’ fan materials process.
The rules also make clear that flags, banners and posters should not be attached to stadium structures, cover CCTV cameras or vents, or be placed on the field-side perimeter walls unless specifically authorised.
Supporters can still take flags into the stadium in many cases, but they may only be allowed to display them in designated areas depending on the venue’s own matchday policy.
That has led to confusion at some tournaments, with fans reporting that banners were removed at entry or taken down once inside the ground even when they believed they were within the size limit.
FIFA says the restrictions are in place for safety, security and crowd-management reasons, and that items seen as political, offensive, discriminatory or commercial can also be refused.
This issue has already come into sharper focus in the build-up to the 2026 World Cup, after FIFA’s ban on the display of Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag at venues in the United States was challenged in court and upheld at a last-minute hearing in Los Angeles.
Supporters’ groups have long argued that enforcement is inconsistent from stadium to stadium, with some venues allowing far more visible fan displays than others.
Ronan Evain, executive director of Football Supporters Europe, has previously said that the rules can be applied unevenly and that fans are often left unclear about what is permitted.
“You were not really allowed to bring a flag in, or at least to show it, which is inconsistent with most Fifa rules and regulations, but also what was allowed at previous tournaments,” Evain said.
“Most of the flags were removed by the staff.”
Evain said the wider problem is that many fans still do not know where the line is between permitted support and prohibited material.
“At a lot of the stadiums it hasn’t been a problem, so it’s hard to understand what is the actual policy and what is improvisation by the staff locally with the rules that they now have,” he said.
“There’s no consistent rule, and when you look at what Fifa has published, there’s a code of conduct that is very broad.”
He also said fans still lack clear answers on whether they can carry flags linked to their city, region or club instead of their national team.
“It never clarified a lot of things, like what sort of symbols are allowed and not allowed,” he said.
“A lot of this is still up in the air, and I think there’s a bit of learning by the venues, but also, again, inconsistency.”
For fans heading to FIFA events in the United States, the safest approach is to keep flags small, fire-resistant and free of political messaging, while checking the specific stadium policy and pre-approval rules for the venue they are attending.