Group Seeks To Stop Williamson County, Tennessee, From Removing Confederate Flag From County Seal

A decision over whether Williamson County can remove an image of the Confederate flag from its official seal rests with a Chancery Court judge.

The Maj. Nathaniel Cheairs Camp 2138 Sons of Confederate Veterans filed suit against the county and the Tennessee Historical Commission in December seeking to keep the so-called Great Seal of Williamson County — with its image of a cannon draped by a Confederate flag — intact.

The lawsuit alleged that Williamson County and the Historical Commission followed an unlawful procedure when the county sought — and the Historical Commission granted — an official declaration that the seal is not a historic monument and, therefore, not subject to the state’s historic preservation law, which generally disfavors altering or removing monuments and markers of Tennessee’s history.

{snip}

Wilson Buntin Sr., an assistant state attorney general representing the Tennessee Historical Commission, said the commission’s decision follows the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, the law that requires historic monuments — a broad term that encompasses public statues, street names and art — to be preserved and protected.

“Their interpretation that the seal is not a monument is a reasonable interpretation of the act,” Buntin said.

{snip}

In the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, the seal drew increased public criticism. A task force convened by the county recommended removing the Confederate flag image.

{snip}