How best to manage the flying of various flags on the Common at Town Hall has become a discussion point of late. The Select Board is very supportive of allowing commemorative flags to be flown that go along with Board proclamations that celebrate important events and represent the rich diversity of our community. For example, the Board has approved proclamations denoting June as “Pride Month” in Town to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and has participated in the Pride flag raising events at Town Hall. The Board fully anticipates continuing this practice going forward.
The Town Hall flagpole has traditionally been in front of the Police Station. The original pole was replaced a few years ago when the new Honor Role for Manchester residents who have served in the military was constructed. The new flagpole is an integral element of the Honor Role layout. To many residents, the construction of the Honor Role changed the nature of the use of the flagpole, dedicating it solely to honoring those who have served in the military. To do this best, goes the thinking, only the American flag and the MIA/POW flag should be flown on this pole, not other commemorative flags.
The Select Board is sympathetic to this thinking but does not want to eliminate the option to fly commemorative flags on the Common. Thus, the Board is looking into the option of a new flagpole located near the fountain on the Common and close to the Central and School Street intersection where it would have a more prominent and visible location. Of course, this takes money and time to implement. (An additional challenge with the flagpole at the Honor Role installation is that flying a third flag has caused damage to the rigging and lighting of the pole. Replacing this pole would be more costly and disruptive to the Honor Role installation.)
The question of how communities decide what flags to fly on public property was the subject of a US Supreme Court decision a couple of years ago. In the Shurtleff v. Boston ruling, the Court decided that the City cannot permit some flags while denying others unless it adopts procedures by which the flags flown represent official government speech. In Shurtleff the court concluded the City had no such procedures thus it must accept all applications if it is going to accept any as a matter of First Amendment free speech rights. The Court’s decision went on to say how a municipality might craft a set of policies governing the flying of flags on government property that would allow discretion by the governing body by making it a form of official government speech.
This ruling has prompted many communities to either limit flags on government property to official government flags (US, state, local) and no others or to adopt procedures for officially sanctioning commemorative flags following official declarations by the local governing body. The Manchester Select Board opted for the latter approach, adopting a flag policy that allows the Board to fly a particular flag in front of Town Hall that goes along with an official proclamation. The Board’s policy was written to be consistent with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shurtleff.
Further discussions will take place to map out a good way forward that allows the Honor Role installation to be dedicated to its purpose while providing a flagpole that can accommodate not only the American flag but additional commemorative flags as the need arises.
