A Melbourne council is facing backlash over its new flag policy, which will see 20 minority flags, including nine different pride flags, fly alongside the Australian flag all year round.
Yarra City Council will fly the flags at the Clifton Hill depot and at three town halls in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy.
Each location will fly the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island flag daily, but will have a separate flagpole to 'symbolize and celebrate its diverse community'.
The twenty flags that will be rotated on that pole include the asexual flag, the aromantic flag (for people who do not feel romantic attraction), the intersex-inclusive flag and the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – despite not being is officially recognized as a nation. West Africa.
“Our flags represent the diverse history, identity and diversity of our community,” the Yarra Council website says.
“Yarra remains committed to flying flags that align with the Council's values and policies.
“Flying flags symbolizes identity, makes people in our community feel heard and seen, promotes respect and inclusivity for all, raises awareness and creates a sense of community pride.”
The Greens-leaning council's review will see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags flown every day of the year.
However, the Australian flag will be removed three times a year – while both Indigenous flags will be flown at half-mast.
Those days include Australia Day on January 26, National Sorry Day on May 26 and April 15, which marks the anniversary of the Aboriginal deaths in custody report.
The flags will be hung on public flagpoles outside the council's Clifton Hill depot and the three council estates in Richmond, Collingwood and Fitzroy (pictured)
The Intersex Inclusive Pride Flag will be flown on two separate dates, while the Intersex Flag will be flown on the Intersex Day of Remembrance.
The aromantic flag, which sparked controversy after it was raised in 2021, will fly for an entire week in February.
On February 27, the Yarra Council will fly the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, despite the West African 'nation' – which claims part of Morocco – not being formally recognized by the United Nations.
Revisions to the flag policy were approved in August after being discreetly included in a board report, with the details and changes separate from the main agenda.
“Our flags represent the diverse history, identity and diversity of our community,” the Yarra Council website says.
“Yarra remains committed to flying flags that align with the Council's values and policies.
“Flying flags symbolizes identity, makes people in our community feel heard and seen, promotes respect and inclusivity for all, raises awareness and creates a sense of community pride.”
Council Watch chairman Dean Hurlston described the new flag policy as 'ridiculous' and claimed councils needed a 'reality check'.
“The Australian flag is the one flag we all want to keep flying,” Hurlston told Sky News Australia's Peta Credlin on Monday evening.
“For Yarra to take him down and regularly replace him, and then leave 20 other flags flying, is just more evidence that councils, council officers, CEOs and executives are now the real woke brigade.”
“Wasting $12 million of our money, creating ridiculous policies when there are potholes everywhere, the streets are full of junk and we can't get the basics done.”
Mr Hurlston said he also wondered where the straight pride flag was and claimed straight people were being lost in the policy.
“Somehow straight people get lost in that, and as a gay man I don't understand any of this,” Hurlston said.
The aromantic flag (pictured), which represents people who do not feel romantic attraction, will fly for a week in February
The aromantic flag will come down on February 27 to make way for the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic – a nation in West Africa not officially recognized by the United Nations.
Residents branded the policy a 'circus' and asked why dates such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day were ignored.
Yarra Residents Collective spokesperson Adam Promnitz said the council was acting like the United Nations rather than trying to help residents with basic services such as playgrounds, roads and waste services.
“They spend more time tying flags than providing services to their residents and taxpayers,” Promnitz told the Herald Sun.
Most municipalities in Melbourne are following state and federal government protocols on flying flags.
This year, on March 31, Darebin City Council flew the Transgender Flag, the International Day of Transgender Visibility and the Rainbow Flag for the International Day Against HomophobiaBiphobia and Transphobia on May 17.
Yarra Mayor Edward Crossland (pictured posing in front of an Intersex flag) is a strong supporter of Melbourne's LGBTIQA+ community
The Palestinian flag was raised by the Merri-bek council last month in opposition to Israel's continued military action in Gaza.
Councils will adopt a Community Flag Scheme setting out which flags will be flown, when they will be flown and which flagpoles will be used, in accordance with Yarra Council's Civic Flag Policy.
The program includes flying flags for the anniversary of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.
Football clubs including the Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and Richmond will also see their flags flying at Yarra Town Hall