Oregon Elects to Let Flags Fly After All

The state Department of Transportation reversed itself Friday and said the Aloha American Legion post can fly 50 U.S. flags from the Tualatin Valley Highway after all.

The post put the flags up to show support for U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.

The department had said the flags must come down because state rules bar political or religious banners or campaign signs on state-owned rights of way.

However, highway officials decided to let the flags remain because the rules don’t specifically address display of American flags along highways, department spokeswoman Carol Mitchell said Friday.

Calls from people upset with the department’s refusal to let the flags fly also played into the agency’s about-face on the issue, Mitchell said. “The Oregon Department of Transportation is patriotic like everybody else.”