Capitol’s flag policy on ‘God’ is reversed

The acting architect of the Capitol cleared the way Thursday for the certificates that accompany flags flown over the building to include the word “God,” reversing policy on an issue that was becoming the latest touchstone in the nation’s culture wars.

“When one of our services or policies doesn’t effectively serve members of Congress or the American public, it needs to be changed immediately,” architect Stephen Ayers said in a statement. “I appreciate the Congress bringing this important issue to my attention.”

The latest controversy over the separation of church and state began in August, when 17-year-old Andrew Larochelle of Dayton, Ohio, wrote to his congressman requesting that a flag be flown over the U.S. Capitol to honor his grandfather for his “love of God, country and family.”

Ayers declined to provide the religious dedication, citing his office’s rules for ordering flags, which include this stipulation: “Personalized dedications are permitted, but . . . political and/or religious expressions are not.” The architect of the Capitol is responsible for supervising the maintenance and preservation of the Capitol complex, where hundreds of Stars and Stripes are flown each day.

After consulting with congressional committees, Ayers changed the rule to read: “Personalized dedications are permitted, but limited to three hundred (300) characters.” In a news release, he said that the rule had existed for four years and that the practice of not allowing religious or political expressions dated “back to the 1970s, although not in writing.”

Rep. Michael R. Turner (R-Ohio), who spearheaded a campaign urging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to overturn the decision, welcomed the reversal.

“We won a great victory for American traditions, religious freedoms and freedom of expression,” Turner said in a statement. Praising the Larochelle family for its willingness “to challenge the architect’s decision,” Turner said the policy revision meant that references to God throughout the Capitol were protected.

Pelosi earlier had defended Ayers for upholding the rules, noting that Congress was not against religious expression and that it began each day’s session with a prayer. On Thursday, she said she agreed with the architect’s decision. Noting that the flags are flown over the Capitol at the request of members of Congress, she said: “I don’t think that the architect’s office should be in the role of censoring what members want to say.”

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johanna.neuman@latimes.com