Boston Doesn’t Have to Fly Christian Flag At City Hall

Boston’s decision not to fly a Christian pennant on a flagpole at city hall isn’t an infringement of a religious group’s constitutional rights, and the city has a legitimate interest in not appearing to be endorsing a religion, the First Circuit said Friday.

The city maintains three flagpoles in a plaza in front of the city hall. They typically display the U.S., commonwealth, city, and POW/MIA flags. Occasionally the city accepts requests to replace its own flag with another, such as banners associated with events in the plaza, foreign flags, or celebrations of causes like Gay Pride.

Camp Constitution, an ...