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Record of Proceedings

Administrative Policy Committee Meeting - August 25, 2026: Flag Policy Discussion

City Council Standing Committee — Tuesday, August 25, 2026
BodyColumbia, South Carolina
SessionCity Council Standing Committee
DateTuesday, August 25, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 34:18

Original source
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Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:01

Madam Clerk, would you call a road, please?

Speaker 2

0:03

Yes, sir.

0:04

Good morning.

Speaker 1

0:05

Morning.

Speaker 2

0:06

Mr.

0:06

Johnson.

Speaker 1

0:07

Here.

Speaker 2

0:07

Mr.

0:08

Brown.

Speaker 1

0:08

Here.

Speaker 2

0:09

Mr.

0:09

McDowell.

Speaker 1

0:10

Yes.

Speaker 3

0:10

Thank you for being

Speaker 2

0:11

here.

Speaker 1

0:13

Our goal here today is to talk about flag display policy.

0:18

Councilman Bailey is online with us.

0:21

You want to approve the minutes first?

0:23

Oh, I'm sorry.

0:24

Thank

Unassigned speaker

0:25

you.

Unassigned speaker

0:25

Thank

Speaker 1

0:25

you, Grandpa.

0:27

Motion for motion for approval.

0:29

Second.

0:30

Would you approve the minutes for our last meeting?

0:33

If so, if by consensus, if we approve those things, would you say aye?

Unassigned speaker

0:38

Aye.

Speaker 1

0:40

Those opposed.

0:41

All right.

0:42

Let's talk a little bit about our flag policy committee.

0:46

Uh what we have here now is a flag policy, uh, policy, flag display policy.

0:53

I'm sorry.

0:54

Uh Councilman Bailey has been instrumental in bringing this issue to the table and talking about this issue.

1:01

And uh Tyler, if you would talk to us a little bit about that policy, this is an extension of what we already have in the packet.

1:10

Is that right, Shanade?

Speaker 3

1:11

Yes, sir.

Speaker 1

1:12

Yes, so if you would talk a little bit about that.

Unassigned speaker

1:17

Oh,

Speaker 1

1:17

you're mute.

Speaker 3

1:18

Yeah, I mean, counselor.

Speaker 1

1:21

How about

Speaker 4

1:22

now?

1:22

Yeah, that's good.

Unassigned speaker

1:23

Okay, good.

Unassigned speaker

1:24

Good to

Speaker 4

1:24

see you,

Unassigned speaker

1:25

everybody, and thanks for your time today.

Unassigned speaker

1:26

I see Shanik must put together that nice PowerPoint that I'm not going over, but I'm gonna talk to y'all about the resolution that's in your packet.

Unassigned speaker

1:36

And probably in the last year or so, we started getting a lot of requests for the

Speaker 4

1:40

city to fly different flags for different reasons on city property.

1:45

And after looking into it, we as a city did not have an official flag display policy.

1:51

And uh the research that Shanik, myself, and legal and Erica were uh have done over the last probably six to nine

Unassigned speaker

2:01

months.

Speaker 4

2:01

We looked

Unassigned speaker

2:02

at several um comparable cities to see what policies they had, and a lot of them do have flag display policies, which limits flags being displayed to uh United States flag, state flag, a city flag if there is one,

Speaker 4

2:17

and then any other flag uh or banner promoting city events uh that's approved through the city manager's office.

2:25

And what this would do would allow

Unassigned speaker

2:27

us to really solidify that our government speech for flags is you know the United States of America, state flag, city flag, but it also does allow other

Speaker 4

2:38

banners

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Flag Display Policy█████████████████████████████████████████████78%
Procedural█████████████22%
Summary of Proceedings

Administrative Policy Committee Meeting - August 25, 2026

The Columbia Administrative Policy Committee met on August 25, 2026, at City Hall to discuss a proposed flag display policy. The meeting was called to order at 10:09 a.m. and adjourned at 10:43 a.m. Councilor Bailey presented the policy, which aimed to establish clear guidance for flags flown on city property.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the December 16, 2025 Administrative Policy Committee Meeting Minutes (motion by Brown, second by Johnson, unanimous).

Discussion Items

  • Proposed Flag Policy: Councilor Bailey reported that the city had received numerous requests to fly various flags, prompting a review of comparable cities. The proposed resolution would limit government-sanctioned flags to the U.S. flag, South Carolina flag, and city flag, with other flags or banners subject to approval by the City Manager. Discussion included concerns about defining "flag," the potential for divisiveness, and the role of the City Manager vs. City Council in approving additional flags. Councilmember Brown expressed reluctance to create a process that could lead to political conflicts. Councilmember Johnson suggested moving approval authority to a majority of City Council rather than the City Manager. The committee also debated whether banners on city poles (e.g., on Main Street) should be included; consensus emerged to separate banners from the flag policy. The committee agreed to limit the display to three flags (U.S., South Carolina, City of Columbia) and remove banner restrictions from the policy.

Key Outcomes

  • The committee reached consensus to limit the display to three flags: the United States flag, the South Carolina flag, and the City of Columbia flag.
  • Banner restrictions were removed from the proposed policy.
  • The revised policy will be reviewed at the next meeting on September 22, 2026.
  • Staff was directed to remove banner language and revise the resolution to reflect that any additional flags would be approved by City Council (by majority vote) rather than the City Manager.

Meeting Transcript

Madam Clerk, would you call a road, please? Yes, sir. Good morning. Morning. Mr. Johnson. Here. Mr. Brown. Here. Mr. McDowell. Yes. Thank you for being here. Our goal here today is to talk about flag display policy. Councilman Bailey is online with us. You want to approve the minutes first? Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Grandpa. Motion for motion for approval. Second. Would you approve the minutes for our last meeting? If so, if by consensus, if we approve those things, would you say aye? Aye. Those opposed. All right. Let's talk a little bit about our flag policy committee. Uh what we have here now is a flag policy, uh, policy, flag display policy. I'm sorry. Uh Councilman Bailey has been instrumental in bringing this issue to the table and talking about this issue. And uh Tyler, if you would talk to us a little bit about that policy, this is an extension of what we already have in the packet. Is that right, Shanade? Yes, sir. Yes, so if you would talk a little bit about that. Oh, you're mute. Yeah, I mean, counselor. How about now? Yeah, that's good. Okay, good. Good to see you, everybody, and thanks for your time today. I see Shanik must put together that nice PowerPoint that I'm not going over, but I'm gonna talk to y'all about the resolution that's in your packet. And probably in the last year or so, we started getting a lot of requests for the

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