But this year the rubber stamp from Reform-led Kent County Council (KCC) comes with a “condition”: that all flags attached to lampposts along the route are taken down.

Harrietsham Parish Council (HPC) said this prerequisite could mean the display – beloved by locals – might not happen in 2025.

This is because removing the flags is ‘not within the remit’ of the contractor brought in to do the lights and public funding cannot be used to bridge the gap, the council claims.

HPC is now calling on the people who put the up flags to take them down – or risk Christmas being cancelled.

The parish council said: “Having arranged the annual permit for the installation of the Christmas lights on the A20 through the village, the Parish Council was informed by Kent County Council’s Street Lighting Department that, for safety reasons, attachments cannot be placed on streetlights which have a flag hung on them; they need to be removed before placing the attachment.

“When the flags were first erected, the matter was discussed with our contractor and they advised that they could install the Christmas lights around the flags without issue.

“However, with the caveat placed on the installation of the Christmas lights by KCC, this is no longer an option available to the Parish Council.

“It is not within the contractor’s remit to remove flags as part of the installation process. As the flags and street columns are not Council property, the Parish Council is not permitted to use public funds to pay for their removal.

“We are hoping that whoever installed the flags will be able to remove them in due course to allow for the festive lights to be installed as planned.

“The Parish Council felt it was important to make residents aware of the potential implications as early as possible, given the short timescales involved for the Christmas lighting installation.”

‘Operation Raise the Colours’, the campaign that advocated displaying Union and St George’s Crosses in public, spread across the UK over the summer – Kent included.

KCC said at the time that it would allow people to put up flags as long as “common sense” was used.

And leader Linden Kemkaran added that the council would not be removing any flags “installed unilaterally by residents of Kent”.

However, KCC did advise that people use safety first and not to scale lamp posts and tall structures.

Peter Osborne, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transport for KCC, said today:”The claim that Harrietsham Parish Council will face significant extra costs is simply wrong.

“The contractor they have already hired to install the Christmas lights can remove any obstructing flags as part of the same job – no additional significant expense should be expected.

“We fully support communities coming together to celebrate Christmas with festive lights – it’s a valued tradition that brings people together. But safety must come first.

“Flags on streetlight columns pose a risk during installation, so they must be removed to ensure the lights go up safely and can be enjoyed by everyone.”