World Flag Stirs Debate During Special Town Meeting

The meaning of a flag can vary from person to person, and that was certainly the case in the Abbot Gym on Tuesday night.

In a resolution during Special Town Meeting, a motion on giving special recognition to in areas such as the , fell by a simple majority voice vote.

The flag, invented by Westford resident Dr. Chaitanya Hiremath earlier in the year during his duties on the advisory council to the , was made in attempt to represent the entire planet and everything on it.

While the resolution was not an official part of the Special Town Meeting warrant, discussion on the initiative was allowed by Town Moderator Ellen Harde, a move that drew criticism from Dennis Galvin, who claimed that a similar resolution he brought forth in 2001 was ruled out of order because it did not have a corresponding signature petition.

Harde claimed that discussions on all resolutions are in order, regardless of their content, but Galvin's criticism of the flag's procedural relevance set the stage to those in opposition to the motion.

The majority of opposing comments to the flag came in response to the view that Hiremath's flag shouldn't be viewed with the same level of dignity given to the Star Spangled Banner.

"I think the Stars and Stripes has been bought in blood," said Galvin, who noted that the American flag represented liberty that other places on Earth were often denied, leading to migrations that built this country. 

"There's skepticism about the rest of the world," he said. " And with good reason (because) everyone traces their origins from somewhere else in the world, and our ancestors came here to gain the liberty that they couldn't get in those other places."

Opposition also came from the fact that the text of the resolution was not available prior to the meeting, as well as from those who felt that support of the flag would set a precedent for other less idealistic symbols to be cast in a favorable light by the town, and a the belief that a gymnasium of slightly more than 200 Westford voters wasn't nearly representative enough to properly choose a flag that would represent six billion people.

However, the flag also had support from voters in the audience appreciative of Hiremath's efforts to create a symbol emphasizing world harmony as well as those finding notoriety in the fact that it was a creation of Westford.

"I think this is an absolutely terrific idea," said Mary Hardin. "Symbols are important, and for that reason, it would be extremely exciting (to see this flourish) since this is where this was adopted first.”

More information on the World Flag is available at www.scientificworldflag.org.