OCALA, Fla. — Marion County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously voted to relocate a controversial historical flags display at the McPherson Governmental Complex in Ocala.
The display, which presents the five flags that have flown over Florida, including a Confederate Flag, will be relocated from the front of the governmental complex to an area near a fitness trail and the Marion County Museum of History and Archaeology.
As part of the vote, commissioners agreed to replace the third national Confederate flag with the less recognizable first flag of the Confederate States of America.
“The area currently used by the flag exhibit will continue to display the U.S. flag with the addition of flags of the agencies represented at the Fallen Officers Memorial,” said Barbra Hernández, a county spokeswoman.
The county temporarily removed the Confederate flag from the display in June after nine people were fatally shot at a Charleston, South Carolina church. The flag was reinstalled in July.
In that same month, demonstrators uprooted the third national Confederate flag and a historical French flag from the display.
The undamaged flags were eventually found outside the Marion County Tax Collector’s Office. County workers reinstalled the flags, and the Ocala Police Department increased surveillance of the display to prevent further tampering.
Tuesday's decision follows months of vocal citizen input. Commissioners also considered recommendations made by a historical advisory board.
The relocation of the historical flags display will be funded through private donations, Hernández said.
WFTV
