Unfortunately I’ve seen this happen before, in Spain.

The national flag of Spain, when used by an individual, rarely ever represents “I love Spain and all that it entails” but rather “I have right-wing views, I only accept the catholic religion, gays aren’t natural, and immigrants should go back to their own countries”.

I don’t know if it can be taken back to just be the national flag, but if it can, Spain hasn’t managed to achieve it in the 20 years since it devolved into a narrow political symbol.