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| SAN JOSE, California – An Ethiopian flag flies high along with the U.S. flag when the Ethiopian Week is observed in San Jose, Calfornia, from September 6 to September 13 each year (Photo from 2006). |
Rather, the dispute was over whether or not the city raised the right green, yellow and red Ethiopian flag.
Yohannes Mesfine, an Ethiopian-American businessman who lives in Palo Alto, says it didn’t. The banner that went up lacked the national emblem — a light-blue disk with a yellow pentagram symbol — which the country adopted in 1996. That’s the flag that the U.S. State Department recognizes.
With no reaction from either city official, both of whom noted the city’s resolution, Mesfine contacted the Ethiopian Consulate General in Los Angeles. An email to Reed from the consulate general’s office thanked the mayor for honoring the occasion but pointed out that any flag that doesn’t contain the emblem is illegal under the Ethiopian constitution.
City officials say similar debates have surfaced involving the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam and the Pan African flag.
“My decision to support the flag-raising has nothing to do with any feeling that I have toward any regime or government,” said Liccardo, whose district includes the Ethiopian American Center and many of its members. “It has everything to do with our solidarity with a community of people living here in our city. What’s far more relevant to me is the identity chosen by our community, and not that chosen by any foreign entity.”
San Jose Public Works Director Dave Sykes said the city will evaluate the issue before whatever version of the Ethiopian flag goes up next year.
“We want to be respectful of the concerns and address them appropriately,” Sykes said.
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