Dylan Brogan
Fire Station 2 on the west side is one of the city buildings flying the proper Madison flag.
A 2015 resolution calls for Madison’s official flag to fly on “all permanent flagpoles” on city property. Isthmus checked out more than two dozen flagpoles across Madison. Just half were flying the correct Madison flag ahead of Flag Day on June 14.
Correct flag? Last summer, the Common Council approved a new design for the city flag that changed the symbol at its center. The original Madison flag, designed in 1962, featured a sun symbol sacred to the Zia Pueblo people of present-day New Mexico. The sun symbol was replaced by a gold circle on July 2018.
“Appropriating a symbol of such importance diminishes its sacred meaning and demeans the Zia people,” declares the city flag ordinance. “The Zia tribe has for decades sought to reclaim its sacred sun symbol from being used without permission. We now understand the destructive impact on indigenous peoples of cultural and religious appropriation and when we know better, we must do better.”
Despite the “destructive impact,” the old flag is still on prominent display at the Monona Terrace, Fire Stations 5 and 12, two Madison Water Utility buildings, the Fleet Services facility and at the Madison Metro office.
The new Madison flag is being flown at Fire Station 7 on McKenna Boulevard. But some 200 feet away, the West District Police Station is flying the old flag.
There is no Madison flag whatsoever at several city properties. Old Glory is flying solo at Breese Stevens Field, the Midtown District Police Station, Fire Station 11 and Fire Station 1. Assistant Fire Chief Ché Stedman says Station 1 was flying the new flag but it became tattered and he’s waiting for a replacement.
Hannah Mohelnitzky, spokesperson for the city’s Engineering Division, couldn’t provide an answer when asked why the city is struggling to fly the new Madison flag on its flagpoles.
“There was no provision in the ordinance itself that was an enforcement mechanism,” Mohelnitzky writes in an email.
Stephen King, with Facilities Maintenance and Custodial Services, says that 70 new Madison flags were purchased in October 2018 for $3,500.
Joel DeSpain, public information officer for Madison police, says the old city flag is still flying at the police training facility on Femrite Drive.
“Captain Jennifer Krueger Favour is in charge of the flag over there, and she says the [city] flag is quite faded,” says DeSpain. “The captain would happily fly the new flag but the city hasn’t sent her one.”
Krueger Favour personally bought the new Madison flag for use in the police department’s honor guard, DeSpain says.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway says she was unaware of the flag discrepancies.
“It appears that this is an educational opportunity on our flag and its importance to our city heritage,” says Rhodes-Conway. “My office will work with city departments to make sure everyone is flying the new flag with pride.”
Isthmus is aware of only one place in town where you can buy a Madison flag — the Wisconsin Historical Museum. A full-sized flag costs $74.95. The museum also sells desktop flags as well as notebooks, coasters, beach towels, pouches and beer koozies with the updated design.
