There’s a new flag fluttering outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
The flag has three horizontal stripes of green, white and black from top to bottom and a row of three red stars in the center. It’s the new flag of Syria which replaces a tricolor that was almost similar except it had only two red stars.
The foreign minister of Syria, Asaad al-Shaibani, raised the new flag on 25 April, Agence France-Presse reports. It was adopted in December following the flight of the ousted president Bashar al-Assad to Russia.
Shaibani said the flag salutes the Syrian people who resisted Assad during the 14-year civil war.
Meanwhile, the flag of the United States displayed at Camping World (CW) locations is raising a red flag, prompting towns and cities to sue the seller of recreational vehicles.
City leaders in Greenville, North Carolina, voted last week to take legal action against their local Camping World dealership over its flag, following a lawsuit by Sevierville, Tennessee officials earlier this week, New York Post (NYP) reports.
CW CEO Marcus Lemonis told Fox & Friends on 2 April that he was surprised by the lawsuits demanding the flags be taken down, saying that he won’t back down.
“We’ve had these flags up for… 20 years,” he said, according to NYP.
Greenville officials cited safety concerns in seeking the removal of the US flag while their counterparts in Sevierville said they wanted the flagpole taken down and not the flag.
“This has never been about removing an American flag or the type of flag. It is about bringing the flag into compliance with City Code,” NYP quoted Greenville communications manager Brock Letchworth as saying.
According to Greenville’s lawsuit, the CW flag is almost the size of a basketball court, spanning 3,200 square feet, while the pole it flies from is around 130 feet tall, almost double the current allowance, NYP reports.
“Excessively tall structures can create visual distractions for motorists, pose potential safety hazards, and impact the scenic views that are a vital part of what makes Sevierville a destination for residents and visitors alike,” the city said, according to NYP.