A new flag policy announced by the Department of Veterans Affairs limits the display of certain flags – including the LGBTQ Pride flag - on VA premises.
In a memo announcing the policy on Feb. 12, VA Secretary Doug Collins wrote that in addition to the American flag, VA facilities and employees are authorized to display or depict the following representational flags: flags of U.S. states and territories, or the District of Columbia; military service flags; VA flags and the official branded flag of a U.S. agency.
Presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed flags; the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag; Senior Executive Service and Military Department specific SES flags; ceremonial, command unit or branch flags or guidons and burial flags in honor of a veteran or Reservist can also be flown.
Not included in the list are LGBTQ Pride flags.
“This policy will bring consistency and simplicity to the display of flags throughout the department, which now has a singular focus: serving the needs of veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,” said Collins.
The guidance applies to public displays or depictions of flags by VA employees in all “VA facilities, workplaces, buildings, common areas and public areas,” including “individual offices, cubicles, government vehicles, office buildings, recreational areas, medical centers storage rooms, kitchens and restrooms” and “all spaces or items in public or plain view outside a VA facility (i.e., parking lot).
VA said the new guidance follows a longstanding Department of Defense policy that during the first Trump Administration and kept in place during the Biden Administration.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.