SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to advance a new Utah state flag design has cleared a House committee.
Senate Bill 31, sponsored by Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, passed out of the House Economic Development & Workforce Services Committee on a 7-2 vote. The latest version of the bill preserves the existing state flag for ceremonial and now "historic" purposes in a nod to the bill's critics.
"We're still trying to work to incorporate it. You saw today, we’re changing from a ceremonial flag, which sounds like it’s the government’s flag, to a historic state flag which is capturing its true purpose in our heart and make sure we respect that history," Sen. McCay said after the bill passed committee.
It will be voted on by the full House next.
The bill has become somewhat controversial on Utah's Capitol Hill with groups rallying for and against it. On Tuesday, people sported stickers that read "Don't Cancel Our Culture" and accused Sen. McCay's bill of trying to erase the state's history.
"We feel like the symbols on the [current] flag are so significant to us. The sego lilies, the beehive, the eagles," said Ellen Jeppson, the president of the Daughters of Utah Pioneers.
Others spoke in favor, expressing a desire for a change.
"The new flag is easy to draw, it's beautiful and it’s easy to tell an adult what it looks like," said a third-grader who spoke in support of SB 31.
Thousands of Utahns submitted ideas and designs for a new state flag that Sen. McCay said was incorporated into the final design. The bill has faced at times some heated pushback with people accusing it of being a "woke" design. Rep. Melissa Ballard, R-North Salt Lake, expressed displeasure at anonymous text messages sent to legislators.
"They were calling people 'patriots' or 'traitors' depending on how they voted for the flag. That baffles me. That absolutely baffles me that they wouldn’t have the courage to put their name on the labels that they were giving legislators for whichever way they voted," she said.
Rep. Mark Strong, R-Bluffdale, said he favored the new flag and voted to advance it to the full House of Representatives. The bill has previously passed the Senate.
"I'm hopeful we’re able to put it all together and get the final votes," Sen. McCay said afterward.
