Salt Lake City adopts new flags circumventing state law

In response to a new Utah law banning the display of political and identity-based flags, including Pride and Juneteenth flags, on government property and in schools, Salt Lake City has adopted three new official city flags to represent its LGBTQ, transgender, and Black communities. The ordinance, proposed by Mayor Erin Mendenhall and approved by the City Council, incorporates the city's sego lily symbol into each of the new flags, aligning them with the legal definition of municipal flags permitted under the state law. These flags—the Sego Belonging (Pride), Sego Visibility (transgender), and Sego Celebration (Juneteenth) flags—seek to honor diversity, equity, and inclusion while complying with House Bill 77, which strictly limits which flags cities may fly. City leaders emphasize that these official flags are symbols of Salt Lake City's commitment to unity and belonging for all residents, despite state restrictions. The move has been characterized as a creative effort to uphold community values and maintain visible support for marginalized groups within the constraints of the new legislation. The law imposes fines for non-compliance and was specifically intended by its sponsor to remove Pride flags from public spaces.