MATTAPOISETT – A new policy for exhibiting flags on town buildings and property was hoisted and approved at a Jan. 9 Mattapoisett Select Board meeting. 

The adopted measure stipulates that town-owned property can display the flag of the United States, the flag of Massachusetts, a local flag and a POW/MIA flag. Other flags can be flown at Mattapoisett Town Hall at the behest of the town administrator or select board “as an expression of the Town’s official sentiments,” the policy says.

Those additional flags are flags of other governments or sister communities in conjunction with relevant days or events, flags related to official town ceremonial actions and flags of sports teams to commemorate achievements.

No other flags can be flown on town-owned flagpoles.

“There’s been some legal conflicts in other communities due to not having a flag policy in place,” Mattapoisett Town Administrator Mike Lorenco said at the Mattapoisett Select Board meeting. 

The measure adopted by the Select Board does not apply to school-owned flagpoles in Mattapoisett, as that property is under the purview of the Old Rochester Regional School District.

Mattapoisett previously had a policy regarding the display of flags, though the actual measure was somehow lost, according to Select Board Vice-Chairman Jordan Collyer.

“This meets the intent of essentially what we had and what we've been operating under and being guided by for the last several years,” Collyer said.

Mattapoisett’s policy was approved months after Rochester adopted a similar code stipulating that town property solely display the flag of the United States, Massachusetts, Rochester and a POW flag. Soon after the measure in Rochester was adopted, the town removed a “Thin Blue Line” flag flown at the Rochester police station and a diversity flag flown on a “Little Free Diverse Library” outside Plumb Library.