Concord select board adopts revised flag policy allowing ceremonial flags on town light poles

The Town of Concord Select Board voted 4–1 Tuesday to adopt a revised town flag policy (APP 16) that allows ceremonial flags to be raised on town light poles as part of officially authorized proclamations and celebrations.

Board members said the change formalizes how the town will manage requests to fly ceremonial flags on poles along sidewalks and public spaces and includes notice and administrative steps to limit ad hoc or frequent requests.

Supporters said the revised policy places responsibility for decisions with the Select Board and reduces ambiguity. "The policy also provides for sufficient notice and deliberation to avoid becoming birds burdensome," Select Board member Mark said during debate, adding that linking flag raisings to proclamations makes clear that the flags reflect official town positions. Select Board member Wendy said she supported retaining language to allow ceremonial flags on light poles, calling the change consistent with past practice and useful for community recognition. Opponents voiced concern that extending the policy to light poles could lead to an increase in requests and governance burdens; Select Board member Cameron said he was “personally not supportive of, having that necessarily be lead to, like, a whole bunch of different types of, like, other countries' flags that we're putting up all over town.”

The board discussed administrative details including a 30‑day notice period and a pilot approach to avoid large recurring costs to the town. The motion adopted, moved from the floor and seconded, directed staff to implement APP 16 as printed in the meeting packet, including language referencing town light poles (section 4), and to remove bracketed text and bold formatting from the packet copy. The vote passed 4–1.

Select Board members thanked staff and volunteer drafters for months of work on the policy. The board noted it will evaluate how the policy functions in practice and may revisit details after seeing its application to specific requests.

The board's formal adoption ends an extended public process that included earlier meetings and public comment; board members said they expect to follow up with guidance to applicants and with process clarifications for staff handling requests.