A Melbourne council is facing backlash over its new flag policy which will see 20 minority flags, including nine different pride flags, fly alongside the Australian flag throughout the year.
Melbourne’s inner city council of Yarra will the flags Clifton Hill depot and its three town halls located in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy.
Each site will fly the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags daily but have a separate flagpole to ‘symbolise and celebrate the diverse community’.
The 20 flags that will be rotated on that pole include the asexual flag, the aromantic flag (for people who feel no romantic attraction), the intersex inclusive flag and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic flag – despite it not officially recognised as a nation in west Africa.
‘Our flags represent our community’s varied history, identity and diversity,’ Yarra Council’s website reads.
‘Yarra remains committed to flying flags which align with Council’s values and policies.
‘The flying of flags symbolise identity, ensure people in our community feel heard and seen, promote respect and inclusion for all, raise awareness and create a sense of community pride.’
The review by the Greens-leaning council will see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flags flown every day of the year.
However, the Australian flag will be removed – while both Indigenous flags are flown at half mast – three times a year.
This includes Australia Day on January 26, National Sorry Day on May 26 and April 15, which marks the anniversary of the Aboriginal deaths in custody report.
The flags will be flown on civic flagpoles outside the council’s Clifton Hill depot and its three town halls located in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy (pictured)
The Intersex Inclusive Pride Flag will be flown on two separate dates, while the Intersex Flag will be flown on the Intersex Day of Remembrance.
The aromantic flag, which sparked controversy after it was hoisted in 2021, will fly for a whole week in February.
On February 27, Yarra council will fly the Sahrawi Arabic Democratic Republic flag despite the west African ‘nation’ – which claims part of Morocco – not formally recognised by the United Nations.
The changes to the flag policy were passed in August after being tucked away in a governance report with the details and changes separate to the main agenda.
The changes were passed unanimously in August, tucked away in the City of Yarra’s governance report, with details and changes separate to the main agenda.
Residents of the City of Yarra have become accustomed to observing unusual flags flying atop of its city town halls.
Council Watch President Dean Hurlston described the new flag policy as ‘ridiculous’ claiming the councils need a ‘reality check’.
‘The Australian flag is the one flag that we all want to actually stay flying,’ Mr Hurlston told Sky News Australia’s Peta Credlin on Monday night.
‘For Yarra to take it down and replace it regularly and then also to fly 20 other flags is just more evidence that councils, council officers, CEOs and executives are now the true woke brigade.’
‘Wasting $12million of our money, coming up with ridiculous policies when potholes are everywhere, streets are full of rubbish and we can’t get the basics done.’
Mr Hurlston said he also wondered where the ‘straight pride flag’ was and claimed straight people are lost in the policy.
‘Somehow straight people get lost in all of that, and as a gay man I just don’t understand any of this,’ Mr Hurlston said.
The aromantic flag (pictured), which represents people who feel no romantic attraction, will be flown for a week in February
The aromantic flag will come down on February 27 to make way for the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – a nation in west Africa that is not officially recognised by the United Nations
Residents labelled the policy as a ‘circus’ and asked why dates such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day were ignored.
Yarra Residents Collective spokesman Adam Promnitz said council was acting like the United Nations instead of trying to help residents with the basics such as playgrounds, roads and rubbish services.
‘They spend more time tying themselves in knots over flags than delivering services to their residents and ratepayers,’ Mr Promnitz told the Herald Sun.
Council Watch spokesman Dean Hurlston said the council should have better priorities.
Most councils in Melbourne follow state and federal government protocols on flying flags.
This year, Darebin city council flew the Transgender flag on March 31, the International Dat of Transgender Visibility, and the Rainbow Flag for the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia on May 17.
Yarra Council Mayor Edward Crossland (pictured posing in front of an Intersex flag) is a strong advocate for the LGBTIQA+ community in Melbourne
The Palestinian flag was flown by Merri-bek council last month in opposition of Israel’s ongoing military action in Gaza.
Councils will adopt a Community Flag Schedule which will set out which flags will be flown, when they will be flown, and which flagpoles will be used, according to the Yarra Council Civic Flag policy.
The schedule includes flying flags for the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Football clubs including the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and Richmond, will also see their flags flown at Yarra city council Town Hall