Hate signs: a number of flags and symbols have been banned in New York

New York Governor Katie Hawkul signed into law a law prohibiting display of “hate symbols” in the state on November 2. The reason for the adoption of the document was an incident last year - a fire engine, decorated with a Confederate flag, caused outrage among the population. The details of the new law were told by the publication Fox News.

The new document expands on an earlier law that prohibits the sale or display of “hate symbols” on any state property and at events sponsored by the State of New York. The new legislation extends the effect of the law to additional objects, in particular to:

• cities;
• villages;
• villages;
• fire districts;
• volunteer firefighting companies;
• police departments.

Prohibited symbols include any symbols related to “white supremacy, neo-Nazi ideology, or the Confederate battle flag”.

“We will never come to terms with racism, homophobia and hatred in New York,” Hawkul said in a statement. "Symbols of hatred do not do anything good, they only spread ignorance and incite violence."

On the subject: New York banned plastic straws, but cafes will still issue them

In August 2020, a Confederate flag was flown on a Brookhaven Volunteer Fire Service truck in Suffolk County. This caused widespread public condemnation and the resignation of two firefighters. A few weeks earlier, photographs of the Confederate flag hanging in the window of the Nassau County fire department appeared on the Internet.