Who gets to decide which flags fly at City Hall?
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'It should not have happened,' said Sarah, who declined to give her last name. A supporter of Israel, she said the Israeli flag shouldn't fly at City Hall either. Pointing at the Palestinian flag above, she said: 'I want to replace that with an American flag.'
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The question of which symbolic banners should fly from City Hall is in the spotlight after last week's flag flap, which prompted both celebration and uproar in Providence. The issue is legally fraught, following a
Mayor Brett Smiley is now crafting a flag policy to set up an official process for approving requests. His office did not yet have specifics, but is looking at the Boston case for reference.
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Sarah, in the blue T-shirt, who declined to give her last name, discusses the Middle East conflict with Hamna Riaz at a ceremonial raising of the Palestinian flag on Friday.
Steph Machado/Globe Staff
Smiley approved City Council President Rachel Miller's request to fly the flag last week, which she said was aimed at celebrating Palestinian culture.
'I didn't feel like there were any grounds to say no,' Smiley told the Globe last week, citing the lack of local policy and the Supreme Court case. He called the decision to fly the flag 'divisive.'
The Supreme Court in the 2022 case ruled that
In the
Boston did create a flag policy shortly after that, which says the flags displayed will be 'an expression of the city's official sentiments,' and the flagpole will not serve as a forum of free speech for the public.
'If the flagpole is meant for the public to be able to display flags of their own desire, then that raises First Amendment issues if they start picking and choosing who can fly a flag,' said Steven Brown, the executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island.
But if the city declares the flags they fly amount to 'government speech,' then they can decide which flags to approve or reject.
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'If they say this is our flagpole, we are only going to allow flags to fly that align with city policy, then they can do that,' Brown said. Governments could still get into legal trouble if they enforce their policy arbitrarily, he noted.
Cities and towns have grappled with what to do in the years since the SCOTUS ruling. A
two flags outside Nashua City Hall were rejected. One of the rejected flags said 'Save Women's Sports,' and was seen as transphobic. The plaintiffs in the case said it was meant to raise awareness of people who are no longer transgender.
The town government of Little Compton has
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Providence's new policy is expected to be similar to Boston's, while accounting for Rhode Island law.
A state law from 1896 says the flag of any 'foreign country' cannot be flown from a public building unless a 'foreigner' from said country is visiting as a guest. The penalty for violating it is a fine of $25 to $100, and it's unclear if it has ever been enforced in modern times. (The attorney general's office said city and town solicitors would be the ones to enforce it.)
'I don't know how it's enforceable,' said Brown. 'It's so archaic and vague.'
Governor Dan McKee's office said he does not have an opinion on whether Providence violated the 129-year-old law, but said he would not have flown the Palestinian flag at the State House.
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Counter-protesters waved Israeli flags on the sidewalk outside Providence City Hall as the Palestinian flag flew above on Friday.
Steph Machado/Globe Staff
Marc Boyd, a spokesperson for the City Council, acknowledged that last week's events raised questions about the protocol for flags, but said the council leadership would not support a policy that required the City Council to vote on every 'routine flag-raising,' noting that the Dominican, Irish, Italian, Armenian, and Israeli flags have all flown from City Hall.
'Under any process that the Council President would support, the Palestinian-American community would still have been able to raise their flag last week,' Boyd said.
Only two city councilors, Miller and Councilor Miguel Sanchez, attended Friday's flag ceremony. About 200 people attended the rally, and a few dozen counter-protesters waved Israeli flags, shouting 'free the hostages' into megaphones.
The American flag continues to fly high above City Hall, and was never taken down. The ceremonial flags are flown out a front window of the building.
The next flag to be flown will likely be the Pride flag or the Day of Portugal flag, both of which are celebrated in June.
'When we celebrate all of these other cultural occasions, they have not divided the community,' Smiley said. 'I think we should learn from that lesson.'
Steph Machado can be reached at
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