Amends existing law to provide that a governmental entity shall only display certain flags.
Summary
House Bill 45 amends Idaho’s flag protocol law to limit the flags that governmental entities may display on government property. Under the bill, state and local governments, including counties, municipalities, special districts, and other political subdivisions, may display only specified flags: the United States flag, the official flag of the governmental entity itself, official flags of U.S. states, official flags of U.S. military branches and units, the POW/MIA flag, and official flags of Indian tribes. The bill also keeps in place the authority of the Division of Veterans Services to adopt rules governing the proper location and display of flags on state property.
The bill is framed as an amendment to existing Idaho Code section 67-2303A and would take effect on July 1, 2025, under an emergency clause. Its practical effect is to narrow the discretion of governmental entities over what flags may be flown on public property, while preserving a limited set of traditional, governmental, military, and tribal flags. It does not regulate private displays; its scope is limited to governmental property and governmental entities.
Impact
HB 45 would change Idaho law by replacing broader flag-display discretion with a closed list of permitted flags for governmental entities. This would affect state agencies and local governments by restricting public flag displays to the enumerated categories and by reinforcing the Division of Veterans Services’ role in setting display protocol on state property. The bill would likely preclude display of non-enumerated flags on government property unless another law or exception applies.
Sentiment
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be presented as a straightforward government-protocol bill with no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials. The inclusion of the emergency clause and the limited, enumerated list of permitted flags suggest a policy goal of immediate standardization rather than a broad symbolic or procedural overhaul. Because no transcripts or votes are available, there is no documented public sentiment in the record provided beyond the bill’s formal, administrative framing.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the restriction on which flags governmental entities may display, since the bill removes flexibility and could affect expressive or ceremonial uses of public property. Supporters would likely favor uniformity, clarity, and limiting government displays to official and widely recognized flags, while critics may object to the exclusion of other flags that communities or officials might wish to display for commemorative, cultural, or political reasons. The explicit inclusion of Indian tribe flags and the POW/MIA flag may also draw attention to how the bill balances symbolic recognition with a broader prohibition.