by Donald Eng
HARTFORD, CT — On a day the nation commemorated the 251st anniversary of embattled farmers firing the shot heard round the world, about two dozen legislative Republicans staged a protest of their own.
As the state House of Representatives convened for its daily business on Patriots Day April 20, which included expanded proposed cannabis legislation in a not-so-subtly scheduled wink and nod to the 4/20 date, bright yellow Gadsen flags were clearly visible adorning the desks of the more conservative caucus members.
The flag, a symbol of the American Revolution that dates back to December, 1775, depicts a timber rattlesnake on a yellow background with the words “Dont Tread On Me” below it. In modern days the flag has been a symbol of right-wing libertarianism and the Tea Party movement.
“We have an issue certainly in this building, it’s no secret right now, that originally the only flag that was allowed at our seats is the American flag, which was put up after 9/11 by the speaker at that time,” Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said Monday morning in response to a question. “We have seen a proliferation of people putting up other flags, some of their countries of origin. In the past our members have been prohibited from putting up any other flags and it’s coming to a head now.”
Candelora referenced the Feb. 5 House session, when Speaker of the House Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, scolded the chamber for “tomfoolery” after state Rep. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato, R-Bristol, stood and turned her back to the dais, gesturing toward the words “ICE IN” on the back of her jacket during Gov. Ned Lamont’s Feb. 4 State of the State Address after Lamont had drawn sustained applause for a comment about the killing of Renee Nicole Good.
“If we’re going to be told that there is no signage allowed in a building, that tomfoolery is not going to be tolerated, and then turn around and see the (Democratic) Party is allowed those rules, well then Republicans will do the same,” he said. “If the rules don’t apply to you, well then they’re not going to apply to us.”
Candelora did not specify which representatives he was speaking about, but state Rep. Maryam Khan, D-Windsor, raised eyebrows recently by replacing her American flag with the flag of Pakistan, which she emigrated from as a child in 1994. Among others, Majority Leader Jason Rojas of East Hartford has a Puerto Rico and a Connecticut flag on his desk, in addition to an American flag. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, D-Avon, flies a Greek flag.
On the Republican side, Rep. Tom O’Dea of New Canaan displays an Israeli flag on his desk.
Khan, though, said there was a difference between the Gadsens, clearly flown as an act of protest, and the others, which indicate nations of origin. A nation’s flag, she said, should not be considered a political statement. A person, she said, does not choose their place of birth.
She acknowledged that replacing the American flag on her desk with a Pakistani one likely made her situation different from the others, who flew a national flag in addition to the American one. She said she had placed the flag of Pakistan on her desk as a point of pride in her birth country’s role in brokering a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.
“A lot of Pakistanis all over the world have had a lot of pride that the country of Pakistan could be able to participate in that,” she said.
She added that the United States’ political climate made her feel “not very proud” of some of its policies, but that she did plan to put the American flag back, likely in a dual holder. She said she had not heard from Democratic leadership about her flag or anyone else’s.
Candelora, whose desk did not have a Gadsen flag, said as a blanket rule he would limit desk flags to only American flags.
“Our desks in there are not to be an expression of our personal lives,” he said. “That should be in our offices.”
Ritter said the legislature did not have a prohibition on flags. In his February comments to the chamber, Ritter had quoted House Rules Section 45, which reads in part, “No person shall take or possess a sign, banner, placard or other display material in the gallery or in the House Chamber while the House is meeting” and further commented that, “I don’t want to see signs. I don’t want to see placards. I don’t want to see coats. I don’t want to see pins.”
It is not clear if desk flags would fall under the banner of “other display material” but Ritter said he had researched the Gadsen flags.
“It has many different meanings, so I’ll talk to Vinnie (Candelora) about it later today,” he said. “Look, in a perfect world, we probably could have a flag policy, but we don’t have one and I’ll have to go deal with it later today.”
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