THE PENTAGON revealed a new policy on Friday effectively banning the display of the Confederate flag on military property.
POLITICO obtained a copy of the policy which bans the Confederate flag on Defense Department property.
The official language of the policy does not name the Confederate flag, however it lists the types of flags that are allowed to be displayed.
Among the flags allowed to be displayed, the policy lists the American flag, flags of the U.S. states, military flags, ally flags, territories and the District fo Columbia.
The policy comes as Defense Secretary Mark Esper looked to find a compromise after President Donald Trump criticized NASCAR for banning the flag.
"The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect and rejecting divisive symbols," he wrote in a memo.
The policy will apply to all public displays of flags by service members or Department of Defense civilians "in all DoD work places, common access areas and public areas."
The president's opposition of NASCAR's decision to ban the Confederate flag was outright and said that flying the flag was "freedom of speech."
Esper faced pressure recently to ban the Confederate flag due to the recent protests since George Floyd's death and several branches taking steps to ban the flag themselves.
While Esper supports the decision of the separate services, he told the Marine Corps, the Navy and U.S. Forces Korea to pause their efforts until a department-wide policy could be issued.
POLITICO reports that the new policy doesn't change the original initiatives, or limits the ability for branches to have stricter regulations.
An official told POLITICO that the White House is aware of the new policy.
According to a defense official familiar with the decision, the choice not to name a specific prohibited flag was "to ensure the department-wide policy would be apolitical and withstand potential free speech political challenges.
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