Two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced a bill that would prohibit the display of any flags on government property other than the American flag and the Tennessee state flag.
The proposed legislation, HB0304/SB0266, is sponsored by Rep. Gino Bulso (R-District 61) and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-District 28). If passed, it would prevent state and local government entities from flying or allowing the display of any other flags on courthouses, public roads, and sidewalks. Additionally, it would prohibit law enforcement agencies and public charter schools from displaying non-official flags in schools.
The bill follows a recent policy announced by the Trump administration, known as the “One Flag Policy,” which restricts U.S. military installations worldwide from flying any flag other than the American flag, with limited exceptions for the Wrongful Detainees flag and the POW/MIA flag. The policy effectively bans flags with social or political messages at military facilities.
As of Tuesday, the Tennessee bill is set for debate in the Public Service Subcommittee on Wednesday.
Last year, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill banning “ideological” flags, such as the Pride flag, from being displayed in public and charter schools.
The bill prohibits the display of flags representing a “political viewpoint, including but not limited to, a partisan, racial, sexual orientation, gender, or other ideological viewpoint.”
Specifically, the bill prohibits “LEAs and public charter schools from displaying in public schools flags other than the official United States flag and the official Tennessee state flag.”
Republican State Rep. Gino Bulso, the bill’s sponsor, said he had “complaints from Williamson County parents and a Williamson County School Board member, in particular, about pride flags in some of our schools in Williamson County.”
“The whole idea is that a school is a place where a child goes to learn, not a place where a child goes to be indoctrinated. So you’re focusing on just one purpose of the bill having to do with political statements regarding transgender ideology and other similar issues,” he explained, adding, “Certainly, you know, 50 years ago we had a consensus on what marriage is; we don’t have that anymore. One hundred years ago, we had a consensus on sexual morality; I don’t think we have that anymore. So the values that I think most parents want their children exposed to are the ones that were in existence at the time that our country was founded.”
