The diverse cultural and social presence in the City of Pittsburg has led the Pittsburg City Council to review the protocol for raising flags, in honor of nationally proclaimed monthly observances or holidays. 

On March 2, the City Council will meet to determine a “Commemorative Flag and Proclamation Schedule for the City of Pittsburg,” according to East County Today. 

The flag schedule will be based upon monthly observances that represent the diverse community and rich history of the city itself. 

According to the City Council Flag Proposal, 

“Staff is recommending that the same flags flown in 2019 be flown in 2020 and future calendar years, as these requests were made by sitting Councilmembers consistent with the adopted flag policy. In addition, staff is recommending the Japanese flag to be flown during any formal visit by students/delegates from Shimonoseki, and that the Pan-African flag be flown in honor of Black History Month, as recommended by the CAC.”

Potential flags to be raised include the Rainbow Pride Flag, the Pan-African Flag, the Prisoner of War and Missing in Action Flag (POW MIA) to represent soldiers lost in war, the Japanese and Italian National Flags and so on. Each month will bring about a new flag to represent an observance within that specific month. 

“I’m so excited that they’re going to include a pride flag. I think it’s extremely important that we represent and support the LGBTQ+ community as much as possible,” said student Lily Anderson.

In addition to the new flags, the State of California Flag and the United States of America Flag will continue to be raised at all city flagpoles each month.

The City Council first adopted an Outdoor Flagpole Display Policy June 24, 2019 to clarify guidelines for the display of flags outdoors on city flagpoles. 

According to an email from City Manager Garrett Evans to the Mayor and City Council members, “The cost impact of the flags will be absorbed within the City Manager’s Office budget.” 

Therefore the cost of the new flags will not affect taxpayers in Pittsburg at all, as the City Council has begun this project to represent the varied cultures in the area without directly impacting the community in a monetary way.

For ease of decision, the city had decided to consider flag display requests only if the request is made by a member of the Pittsburg City Council. 

In order to suggest what flags should be raised in representation of specific groups, students must personally contact a City Council member in hopes that they will suggest your flag idea at the next City Council meeting.

For more information on the new flag policy, please contact City Manager Garrett Evans at 925-252-4850.