Boise Defies Idaho Pride Flag Ban with Rainbow Flagpoles
The city has installed the rainbow flagpole wraps and adorned its windows with Pride-themed signs and stickers in an effort to defy the spirit of the state's flag restrictions.
The city of Boise has installed rainbow-colored wraps on flagpoles at City Hall in a show of defiance toward Republican state lawmakers who recently banned localities from flying non-approved flags, including the Pride flag.
The wraps were placed in the outdoor plaza to signal that the city is LGBTQ-affirming while still complying with the flag ban. City officials also hung a large sign with rainbow stripes and the words “Creating a city for everyone” in one City Hall window, and decorated other windows with rainbow-colored, heart-shaped stickers reading “A city for everyone means for everyone.”
At night, the city also lights the building’s exterior in the colors of the transgender Pride flag.
Mayor Lauren McLean told Boise State Public Radio that the city remains in compliance with the law, noting that it applies only to flags or banners on government-owned property. She said the rainbow flagpole wraps demonstrate the city’s commitment to inclusivity and support for the broader Boise community.
“We have a rich history of an arts and culture scene here,” McLean said. “So because it’s allowed, we have installed art that demonstrates our values to being a safe and welcoming city for everyone.”
“The law was based on the flag and we are using rainbows, so and it’s not at all a flag, so I would say we are in full compliance of the law,” City Council President Meredith Stead told Boise CBS affiliate KBOI. “[T]his was just a different way to celebrate our diversity and values.”
The controversy over the flag ban dates back to last year, when Idaho lawmakers barred “unsanctioned” flags from flying at schools and government buildings in an attempt to prevent the display of the Pride flag. In response, Boise adopted the Pride flag as one of the city’s “official” flags, allowing it to fly on the flagpole outside City Hall under the law.
Outraged that the city had managed to flout the restrictions they sought to impose, Republican lawmakers returned this year with a bill creating a list of “approved” flags and clarifying that the ban applies to any non-approved flag. The bill — since signed into law by Republican Gov. Brad Little — imposes fines of $2,000 per incident for every non-approved flag flown or displayed on government or publicly owned property, and allows the attorney general to sue entities that display non-approved flags.
In compliance with the law, Boise removed the Pride flag from the outdoor plaza flagpole just hours after Little signed it into effect on March 31. But city officials sought other ways to skirt the spirit of the law, aimed at silencing or restricting symbols of LGBTQ visibility.
State Rep. Ted Hill (R-Eagle), the sponsor of the flag ban, told the Idaho Statesman he expected some response from the city, but thought it would be a mural.
“She’s insulting everyone else,” Hill said, referring to Mayor McLean. “Is that City Hall or some activist Pride Hall?”
Requests for comment from Little’s office and the office of Attorney General Raúl Labrador were not returned.
When asked about the flagpole wraps, city spokesperson Maria Ortega told the Idaho Press in an email that the city “remains in compliance with the law and is not flying any city official Pride flags on our properties.”
Ortega also said the community has largely responded positively to the flagpoles and other rainbow-colored art installations, referring to the stickers and signs at City Hall.
“So far this morning, we have received just a handful of messages from community members, most of them in favor of the displays and thanking the city and a few against the initiative,” she wrote.
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