Real Salt Lake fans Randolf and Diana Scott said the team asked them to take down their Betsy Ross flag at a recent match since the team felt the flag is a “symbol for hate groups.”
The Scotts, who are season ticket holders who attend every game at Rio Tinto Stadium, brought the Betsy Ross flag to a recent match.
The flag includes 13 white stars as a symbol to the original 13 colonies.
Earlier this year, the Betsy Ross flag made headlines after Nike decided to cancel its USA-themed sneakers with the flag, according to The Wall Street Journal. Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick spoke out against the shoes, saying they had potential connotations of using a slavery-era flag.
Real Salt Lake stadium security officials approached the couple, asking them to take down the flag after nearby fan complained about the flag. There had been some confrontations between fans over the flag so Real Salt Lake decided to end the unrest by asking the couple to take down the flag,
“They kept telling us if he wasn’t going to take it down, we were going to be ejected from the game,” Diana said, according to Fox News. The couple decided to put the flag away.
The Deseret News spoke with a Real Salt Lake representative and confirmed the details of these reports.
Real Salt Lake is in Major League Soccer, which has a Fan Code of Conduct.
The code reads, prohibits “using (including on any sign or other visible representation) political, threatening, abusive, insulting, offensive language and/or gestures, which includes racist, homophobic, xenophobic, sexist or otherwise inappropriate language or behavior” at stadiums.
Real Salt Lake Chief Business Officer Andy Carroll released a statement that said the flag didn’t represent the team’s values, according to The Washington Examiner.
“Recently, and very controversially as well as surprising to us, the Colonial flag has been adopted as a symbol for hate groups,” Carroll said. “Any controversial flags or other similar banners or signs with symbols of hatred, divisiveness and/or intolerance whether intentional or otherwise will not be permitted in our stadiums. Period.”
Rodney Dale Walker wrote a letter to the Deseret News that expressed his thoughts on the controversy.
“The decision by the RSL management to deny the display of the Betsy Ross flag is, in my opinion, another symptom of cowardice of sports organizations,” he wrote. “They should take a stand for the freedoms that we enjoy. That flag is a symbol of the founding of this great country that has ‘... liberty and justice for all.’ Those who resent this flag should grow up. There were many thousands of people that died to establish the freedoms that we now enjoy.”