Flag of Trenton, Georgia

Flag of Trenton, Georgia
Use City flag
Adopted 2001

The city flag of Trenton, Georgia, United States, was adopted in 2001 partially as a protest following the change of the state flag of Georgia. The flag is controversial because it incorporates the Confederate Battle Flag.

History

The former Georgia state flag

In 1956, the state of Georgia changed its flag to largely feature the Confederate battle flag as part of a protest against desegregation.[1] In 2001, the Georgia General Assembly voted to change the flag, relegating the location of the Confederate flag to a greatly reduced place on the state flag. The city of Trenton opposed this new flag. In the same year, the city's commissioners voted to adopt the former state flag as the city's flag as a protest, and voted in favor of displaying the Ten Commandments on the city hall, which became official in 2002.[2] The State of Georgia had stated that it would withdraw funding for any municipality that refused to fly the new state flag and continued to fly the old one.[3] Trenton circumvented this when they adopted the flag by altering the former state flag by adding "City of Trenton" and "Incorporated 1854" to it. It also flew the new Georgia state flag and the flag of the United States along with the city flag in keeping with the state regulations.[3]

The change was not universally supported, and in 2004 the new mayor of Trenton, Anthony Emanuel, removed it. However following objections from the Sons of Confederate Veterans that the flag represented their heritage,[4] a referendum was held in 2005. The city's residents voted 278–64 to keep the city flag.[5]

Criticism

Tyrone Brooks, the Georgia representative who was behind the drive to change Georgia's state flag, criticized Trenton for readopting the old flag stating "I thought it was a terrible mistake for them to do that. I thought it was a terrible blow to the image of their community." One Trenton resident stated "We want people here, we want people to come visit us, and not something that says, 'You know what? We like things the way they are and we are not willing to change.'"[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Azarian, Alexander; Fesshazion, Eden (August 2000). "The State Flag of Georgia: The 1956 Change In Its Historical Context" (PDF). Senate Research Office. State of Georgia: State of Georgia. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2014. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  2. ↑ "Confederate banner still flying high in Trenton, Ga.". Times Free Press. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  3. 1 2 "Trenton's Flag Loophole". Atlanta Journal-Constitution (archived at Dixie Outfitters). Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  4. ↑ "SCV Tries to Save Trenton". WDEF-TV News 12 (archived at Dixie Outfitters). 2005-01-18. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
  5. ↑ Magee, David (2007). The South is Round. Jefferson Press. p. 83. ISBN 0977808629.
  6. ↑ "J234: In Georgia, Old Struggles Live On". University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved 2016-09-11.
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