Lynnwood established public flagpole rules after pride flag controversy

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, April 21, 2026

EVERETT — The city of Lynnwood quietly established guidelines last year about which flags can be flown at public parks after denying a local nonprofit’s request to fly an LGBTQ+ pride flag.

At the April 13 City Council meeting, organizers of Lynnwood Pride said the city only recently informed them of the new policy. Now, the organization is requesting that the City Council pass an ordinance to allow a pride flag to be flown at Wilcox Park in June.

Former Mayor Christine Frizzell adopted the administrative policy in September, and it went into effect Sept. 9. Administrative policies provide rules on how the city operates its workforce and departments, Lynnwood spokesperson Nathan MacDonald said in an email Tuesday. City Council approves municipal codes that govern the public, he said.

According to the policy, only the United States flag, the Washington flag, the POW/MIA flag and flags of other governmental entities can be flown on most public flagpoles. At City Hall, other flags may only be flown if the city, state or federal government issues a proclamation.

The policy specifies that the city will not use its flagpoles to “sponsor the expression of a third party” or display a ceremonial flag based on a third-party request.

“It seemed to be hurriedly put together in a sense to cover themselves and to keep us quiet and directly contradict our request,” said Philip Lipson, co-director of Lynnwood Pride, at the April 13 meeting.

The city does not publicly announce administrative policies because they are internal working policies, MacDonald said.

In May 2025, Lynnwood Pride asked the city to support their pride flag-raising event at Wilcox Park. At the time, city staff said Lynnwood Pride was not allowed to raise the pride flag at the park, citing the lack of a specific policy. On June 1, 2025, Lynnwood Pride attempted to hold the event anyway, but city staff arrived and asked them to remove the flag.

While the city held a public pride flag-raising ceremony at City Hall last year, it was on a weekday afternoon, which made it difficult for the community to attend, Lynnwood Pride co-director Charlette LeFevre told The Herald last year. This year, Lynnwood is hosting a Pride event on Saturday, June 6, that includes a pride flag-raising at City Hall.

City Hall is also hard to see from the road behind a row of tall trees, LeFevre said. Wilcox Park — also known as Flag Park — sits right off 196th Street, one of the city’s main roads. It has 27 flag poles, all flying United States flags.

“It’s very important for the community to have this flag,” LeFevre told the council. “It is representative and important for all communities.”

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.