Newsweek reached out to the Department of Defense, who declined to comment while noting they would "reply directly to the authors of the letter."Esper's memo did not explicitly ban the Confederate flag but instead defined a narrow range of flags that could be displayed at military installations—including state flags, flags of allied nations and various flags related to military operations.
He wrote that flags that are allowed should displayed with the intent of "treating all our people with dignity and respect" while "rejecting divisive symbols."Confederate flags and symbols have become the focus of renewed criticism in the wake of mass protests against racial injustice sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd.