Virginia volunteer fire department votes to put Confederate flag back on its patch
It’s unclear when the Confederate battle flag was taking off the patch of the Chancellor Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.
But it’s now known when members voted to bring it back. That occurred last month in a 21-14 vote by the membership.
So far, the old patch has not made an appearance on the Chancellor VFRD Facebook page.
After an article yesterday (Friday) by Jess Branscome at The Free Lance-Star, the paper’s editorial page and others on social media are calling for the department to reconsider. The vote also brought some supporters of the plan.
But Administrative Chief Kevin Dillard hopes to convince members to overturn the decision at the agency’s next meeting Monday. He said Chancellor’s new president spurred the change without consulting other leaders.
“This just kind of came out of left field and surprised everybody,” Dillard said.
The patch at issue shows an eagle clutching an American flag in one talon and a Confederate flag in the other, with the words “heritage is our pride.”
The Spotsylvania County volunteers voted 21-14 last month to bring it back after some said the patch was altered without the membership’s consent, according to the meeting minutes.
