Salt Lake City and Boise make pride flags official city emblems, skirting flag ban laws

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Democratic controlled cities of Salt Lake City and Boise adopted new city flags this week showing support for LGBTQ+ people in defiance of their states’ Republican-controlled Legislatures, which have banned traditional rainbow pride flags at schools and government buildings.

Utah's capital of Salt Lake City created new flag designs while Boise, the capital of Idaho, made the traditional pride flag one of its official city flags. The move in Utah came hours before a ban on unsanctioned flag displays took effect Wednesday.

The cities' mayors spoke Tuesday morning to discuss their individual plans and offer each other support, said Andrew Wittenberg, a spokesperson for Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall's office.

“My sincere intent is not to provoke or cause division,” Mendenhall said. “My intent is to represent our city's values and honor our dear diverse residents who make up this beautiful city and the legacy of pain and progress that they have endured.”

Idaho’s flag ban took effect April 3, barring government buildings from displaying any flags except those on a short list including the U.S. flag, flags of military branches and official flags of government entities. A separate ban containing some exemptions for school buildings takes effect July 1.

Supporters said the laws would encourage political neutrality from teachers and other government employees. Opponents argued they aimed to erase LGBTQ+ expression and wrest authority from cities and towns that did not align politically with the Republican Legislatures.

More than a dozen other states are considering similar measures.

The pride flag has regularly flown over Boise's City Hall for years, and Mayor Lauren McLean kept the flag aloft even after Idaho's law took effect. McLean said she believed the law was unenforceable.

But Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador recently warned he would ask lawmakers to add an enforcement mechanism in the 2026 legislative session.

Under the Utah law, state or local government buildings can be fined $500 a day for flying any flag other than the U.S. flag, the state flag, a city or county flag, military flags, Olympic and Paralympic flags, official college flags or tribal flags. Political flags are not allowed.

Last week, McLean responded to the Idaho law by issuing a proclamation retroactively making the pride flag an official city flag, along with a flag honoring organ donors. It allowed both to be flown alongside Boise's traditional blue flag featuring the Capitol building and the slogan “City of Trees.”

The city council voted 5 to 1 for the proclamation during a packed and sometimes rowdy meeting Tuesday night.

“Removing the flag now after years of flying it proudly would not be a neutral act,” said council member Meredith Stead. “It would signal a retreat from values we’ve long upheld and send a disheartening message to those who have found affirmation and belonging through its presence at city hall.”

Some in attendance held pride flags while others waved the U.S. flag. At times, shouts erupted, prompting a brief recess.

Utah in March became the first state to enact a ban on unsanctioned flags at all government buildings. Republican Gov. Spencer Cox let the bill become law without his signature. He said he thought it went too far in regulating local governments but chose not to reject it because his veto would likely be overridden by the Legislature.

Utah's law does not explicitly mention LGBTQ+ pride flags, but the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Trevor Lee, repeatedly stated he aimed to ban them.

Council members in Salt Lake City unanimously approved new designs Tuesday evening, adding the city’s emblem — a sego lily — atop the traditional rainbow LGBTQ+ pride flag and the blue, pink and white transgender flag. They also adopted a red and blue flag for Juneteenth, a federal holiday celebrated on June 19 that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.

Utah's Republican House Speaker Mike Schultz called that a “clear waste of time and taxpayer resources.”

“This law is about keeping government spaces neutral and welcoming to all,” Schultz said. “Salt Lake City should focus on real issues, not political theatrics.”

Other Idaho communities are also grappling with the restriction.

City buildings in Bonners Ferry, roughly 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Canadian border, have long flown Canada's flag in a sign of cross-border friendship, removing it only in April after Idaho's governor approved the flag restriction.

But the law contains an exception that allows government entities to fly the flags of other countries during “special occasions.” Seeking to again fly the flag year-round, the Bonners Ferry City Council passed a resolution Tuesday designating every day of the year a “special occasion” to commemorate friendship with Canada.

FILE - People march following a Pride rally at the Utah State Capitol, June 2, 2023, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flag is displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

The newly adopted city flags are displayed at the Salt Lake City and County building showing support for LGBTQ+ in defiance of their state's Republican controlled Legislature, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)