Today is Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor those who gave their lives while serving in the military. Just a couple of months later is Independence Day and the 250th anniversary of America’s birth. This seems like as good a time as any to show our patriotism and celebrate the liberties and freedoms Americans have earned through blood, sweat, and tears. The US flag is a symbol of our nation, its strength, dignity, and history – good and bad – unites all citizens under the red, white, and blue. But one Washington state councilwoman thinks Old Glory doesn’t represent Americans as adequately as the pride flag, and perhaps it’s time to replace it.
Replacing the US Flag
Lynwood, WA, is a small city of about 43,000 people located just 16 miles from Seattle. It is often characterized as a suburb or bedroom community, despite its high crime rate of 67.2 compared to the national average 33.37. The population is diverse: 10.91% white, 8.78% black, and 47.91% “other races.” One of its councilmembers, Isabel Mata, identifies as a “queer, neurodivergent writer, advocate, and mindfulness meditation teacher” in her government biography. And she recently took issue with one of the parks in the city – or, rather, the fact that it displays the American flag.
“To me, a pride flag is way more relatable than an American flag. I would not raise an American flag at my house because I wouldn’t. I wasn’t even born here. But I would raise a pride flag. As the most diverse city in all of Snohomish County, I don’t think that I’m the only one who…who would maybe choose to have 27 other flags in Flag Park.”
Wilcox Park, known locally as “Flag Park,” displays all 27 versions of the historical US flags – from the 13 colonies to present day. The tradition began when the 1976 bicentennial committee came up with the idea and installed the flags. However, they are not flown year-round. Instead, they are on display from Memorial Day in May through Labor Day in September – except for this year, the 250th anniversary of America, when they were displayed a little earlier.
Mata went on to question the value of the flags, asking: “Does this park represent the values that were here in this 1960s when they established this park? Do we hold those same values now, and are they representative of the Lynnwood as we see it today?” Furthermore, “Because if we’re having this issue of we have so many things that we want to represent, this community is filled with so many beautiful cultures and diverse backgrounds and all of these things, yet we have 27 iterations of the same flag, some representing parts of American history that, frankly, are not great.”
A 2025 Gallup Poll found that “9.3% of U.S. adults identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual in 2024. This represents an increase of more than a percentage point versus the prior estimate, from 2023. Longer term, the figure has nearly doubled since 2020 and is up from 3.5% in 2012, when Gallup first measured it.”
Less than 10% of the population does not represent the other 90%, despite what Councilperson Mata inferred. The American flag represents all citizens, regardless of race, sexual orientation, or gender, whereas a pride flag celebrates the LGBTQ community. To suggest replacing Old Glory with a symbol of sexual orientation had some social media users livid.
“’I wasn’t even born here,’” Fox News contributor and New York Post columnist Miranda Devine posted referring to Mata’s comment. “Then shut up.”
Another poster asked: “If you hate America that much, then why are you still here?”
After Mata’s comments produced a ton of backlash, the councilperson apologized and tried to back herself out of the deep hole she dug. “I apologize for the way I expressed myself, and I mean that sincerely. The American flag represents the sacrifices of veterans and military families, and the promise that drew immigrants like me to this country. I should have honored that more carefully in my remarks, and I did not. I have deep respect for everyone who has served under that flag.”
No time is the right time to disparage the American flag, but the holiday that honors those who have made the ultimate sacrifice under that flag and just before the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary is perhaps the worst possible time to show such disrespect.
Other Measures to Diminish Old Glory
Mata is not the first lawmaker to suggest replacing American flag. In February, in response to President Donald Trump removing the pride flag from the Stonewall Monument in New York, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation to make the pride flag a congressionally authorized flag.
In 2023, House Republicans took the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Denis McDonough to task for permitting social movement flags, such as the pride flag, to be flown “in place of traditional flags, such as the American flag, at VA facilities,” House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs posted on its website. “Veterans who have served our country deserve to enter a facility that is free from discrimination and political posturing,” the members wrote in a letter. “These men and women were apolitical when they served our country, and we should strive to provide them with an apolitical VA when they seek care, benefits, and services that they have earned.”
Former President Joe Biden and his administration allowed pride flags and Black Lives flags to be flown from US embassies. In 2023, the Old Glory Only Act was introduced by Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC). “Our beautiful flag, Old Glory, should be the only flag flying and representing our country over our diplomatic and consular posts,” Duncan said at the time. “The American flag is a beacon of liberty, and no other flag or symbol better portrays our shared values than the Stars and Stripes.”
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, perhaps the focus should not be on replacing or sidelining the flag that has draped the coffins of fallen soldiers and flown over battlefields. The Stars and Stripes are not meant to represent one race, one political party, or one social movement, but the nation as a whole, imperfect history and all. Pride flags, BLM flags, and countless other symbols may represent individual causes or communities, but Old Glory represents every American. When politicians begin treating the national flag as just another optional symbol competing for relevance, they risk weakening the one emblem designed to unite citizens rather than divide them into smaller identity groups.
