How many flags are too many at official government buildings?
For Fresno County District 2 Supervisor Steve Brandau, the lack of a formal policy for county buildings provides the potential for things to get out of hand. That’s why he’s bringing a proposal to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to limit flag-flying on county properties to just two.
Brandau is offering an amendment to Fresno County’s ordinance code to allow only the American flag — the familiar Stars and Stripes — and the official California state bear flag to be flown on flagpoles at all county facilities, both those owned by Fresno County and those that the county leases.
Brandau, who served on the Fresno City Council before he was elected to the county board in a 2019 special election, said he wanted to head off potential controversy that could result from Fresno County having no formal flag policy. The city of Fresno frequently flies a variety of flags on the poles in front of City Hall to commemorate special dates, events, cultures and nations, including the recent raising of the Armenian flag to recognize the Armenian genocide.
Other flags that have been flown on flagpoles at City Hall at various times have included Mexico’s flag to commemorate that nation’s independence day in September; the rainbow Pride flag to recognize the LGBTQ+ community; the Juneteenth flag commemorating the freedom of African American slaves in Texas in 1865, more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation; and the POW/MIA flag to remember military prisoners of war and service members who remain missing in action.
Some of those banners, however, are not without controversy.
“I have seen the contentiousness that comes from picking and choosing winners and losers in flag-raising and related ceremonies, both locally and across the country,” Brandau told The Fresno Bee. “The county currently has no guiding ordinance or direction on this issue.”
“I have had many conversations about this in recent years,” he added. “Almost everybody I have spoken to feels that the American flag and the state of California flag are enough on government buildings.”
If the ordinance introduction is approved on Tuesday, it would return for a final vote at a later meeting, most likely on May 23. The policy would officially take effect 30 days after final approval. The ordinance would apply to any county offices, yards, landmarks or parks.
“There have been increasing numbers of controversies over specialty flags being flown at government buildings at … the local, state and national level,” Brandau wrote in a memo to his board colleagues. “Some agencies have been accused of promoting divisive and ideologically motivated speech on public property. Other agencies have been input in the unenviable role of picking and choosing winners among potential flag raising events.”
“An incident has yet to occur at a Fresno County facility,” he added, “but the county does not have a formal flag policy in place.”
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