Revisions to Greenwich’s Flag Policy Would Specify Who Can Raise a Flag on a Town Flagpole

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On Thursday the Board of Selectmen discussed updates related to the town’s flag policy created in 2023 to make it more specific about who is allowed to raise a flag and the process to get a flag raising approved.

The discussion followed an incident in which Greenwich resident David Wold removed the Filipino flag from the town flagpole and replaced it without permission with the US Army flag to commemorate the anniversary of the Army’s founding on June 14.

The resident apologized to the Greenwich Filipino-American community, saying, “I sincerely apologize to the Greenwich Filipino-American community for removing the Filipino flag from the Town Hall flagpole,” and the matter was considered resolved.

Mr. Wold subsequently wrote to explain his point of view, including, “Since June 14th was a Saturday, a custodian was not available in any case, and as I had done on numerous previous occasions, I lowered the current flag flying at the time (this was the Filipino Flag) and raised the flag approved to fly on June 14th – the US Army Flag.”

On Thursday Assistant Town Attorney Laura McGeachy presented the proposed updates (starts on page 11 of agenda).

There will be a second read in two weeks.

McGeachy described two changes to the existing policy:

In #1 of the policy she talked abut the addition of the words “as of right” related to the state flag, town flag and American flag.

[The flags authorized to be flown as-of-right or otherwise displayed on or over Town owned buildings and property are the United States flag, the State of Connecticut flag, and the Town of Greenwich flag.]

Under 3b, referring to when a town residents wants a flag approved by the Selectmen it will come to two Selectmen meetings for consideration, and adding the words “and a vote.”

[b. A Town resident may submit a request to the Office of the First Selectman for a particular flag display with supporting rationale for such request a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of the proposed date of the requested flag display. Following review and with the endorsement of the First Selectman or any other Selectperson, such request shall be presented at two regularly scheduled Board of Selectmen meetings for consideration and a vote.]

Lastly, she proposed an additional paragraph to the policy:

[4. In the event a flag display is approved by the Board of Selectman pursuant to #2, #3(a) or (b) above, the proponent of such flag display shall contact the Office of the First Selectmen a minimum of seven (7) days in advance of such flag display with either a request for a formal ceremony with Town official(s) which is not guaranteed, or if it is solely a flag raising event without a ceremony it is necessary to ensure a Town employee is scheduled for the flag raising. Only Town employees are authorized to raise and lower flags on Town flagpoles. In the event the approved flag raising falls outside of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. weekdays or holidays, the proponent is required to pay the applicable overtime rate for a Town employee to raise the flag. The proponent shall supply the Office of the First Selectmen with the approved flag to be raised if such flag is not already in the Town’s possession. Following the flag display, the proponent may pick up the flag from the Office of the First Selectman with reasonable advance notice.]

“The incident we had forced us to do this, which is probably a good thing,” Camillo said, adding a suggestion to add language about who can raise the flag to include an honoree under the supervision of a town employee.

He suggested adding wording about town hall employees raising flags to include, “raise and/or supervise.”

“Just to cover ourselves because I can see someone bringing this up as an issue and filing complaints and wasting our time,” Camillo said.

Janet Stone McGuigan asked whether the seven-day advanced notification was adequate, given there is a 30-day minimum requirement for requests for a proclamation.

Executive Assistant to First Selectman Camillo, Ken Borsuk, said seven days was adequate.

As for how many days a flag would fly, Camillo said typically it is three days, but there have been exceptions in emergencies such as when Ukraine was invaded.

“In general we try to hold to a three-day policy,” he said.

“You might not want to put the days in the policy because you want that discretion,” McGeachy said.

“And the more we approve, the more they’re going to run into each other,” he added.

There will be a second read and vote at the next meeting which is on July 24, 2025.

Connecticut’s State flag, American flag and Town of Greenwich flag flying outside town hall.

History of Flag Policy in Greenwich

In 2023 there was a debate about creating an official flag policy, given one did not exist.

Camillo said a “hybrid” policy would be a compromise between flying government only flags and having a “free for all.”

“We get some requests from some we have said no to, and if someone took us to court we might not win,” he said.

At the time, assistant town attorney McGeachy noted that in the city of Boston, where there had been no flag policy until a problematic flag was raised at city hall, and a 2022 Supreme Court decision ruled that flags were Constitutionally protected free speech, not government speech.

There was some contentious debate stemming from concern that the Pride flag might not be included in a list of “legacy flags” that would be grandfathered. State Representative Steve Meskers (D-150), said he was concerned a future Board of Selectmen would not approve the Pride Flag, and argued against a requirement that a list of flags be reviewed annually in January.

The policy was approved in September 2023 in a split vote, 2-1 with the Democratic Selectperson voting against it, based on concern that flags including the pride flag and Juneteenth flag might not be preserved.

Greenwich’s flag raising policy went into effect in 2024 and ensured that “nongovernmental flags” would continue to be included.

The Pride Flag has been included in 2024 and 2025.