A black ‘IS’ banner is flying from a lamp post in Hackney

Black flags bearing the letters “IS” have appeared in Hackney.

However, fear not, the flags have not been raised by a terrorist organisation, but are instead reportedly part of a marketing campaign to promote shopping in the borough. Alan Wolfson spotted one of the flags at the bus top outside Tesco in Morning Lane, and snapped a picture before posting it to Facebook.  He wrote: “Hackney are draping banners around claiming it IS THE FASHION HUB. “There’s no sign of the sequence of that sentence other than a solitary black flag with IS on it. Well done.”

The flags are reportedly promoting a new shopping development, and spell out the words “HACKNEY IS FASHION.” However, on its own, the solitary black and white flag with the letters “IS” unfortunately resembles propoganda for the terror organisation Islamic State. The similarities between the flag and those waved by jihadi terrorists have not gone unnoticed, and Mr Wolfson’s picture has been widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter. Amanda Hopkins commented simply: “You couldn’t make it up, could you?” However, Sandra Bickerton offered an alternative explanation, writing: “Or it says si, to offer general reassurance to Spanish visitors.”

Hackney Council has said that although it was aware of the banners, they had not been put up by the local authority. (Evening Standart)