On July 7, ‘The Burg’ became the 89th City or Town to Support a New Flag and Seal for Massachusetts.
City Council Vote Unanimous!
On Tuesday, July 7th, the Fitchburg City Council voted unanimously in support of a resolution to change the flag and seal of Massachusetts, becoming the 89th city or town in Massachusetts to do so.
The vote came after a speech by Roaming Buffalo, a citizen of the Abenaki Nation, who noted that Fitchburg sits on the traditional homelands of the Abenaki and sister Nipmuc Nations, before calling on the city council to support the resolution to change the state flag and seal. “At the very least, remove the sword that is hanging over the figure of the Indigenous person,” Roaming Buffalo said. “It is a horrible reminder of the history of these lands and what happened to many, many Indigenous people, in the vein of conquest and the Doctrine of Discovery. Stand with many, many other Commonwealth of Massachusetts communities who have stood up to say that this does need to go, and I am asking that, Aho, on behalf of myself and all the Indigenous people that I know, who all agree, and are asking you to ‘Let the Governor and the Legislature Know, that Sword has Got to Go.'”
Walk for a New Dawn
A Peace Walk from the New York border at Williamstown, departing on Friday, July 24th, will traverse the breadth of the Commonwealth before arriving at the Boston Common on or about August 12th, in support of an educational campaign to Listen to Indigenous Voices, Defend Sacred Homelands, and Change the Massachusetts Flag and Seal.
The Massachusetts Advisory Commission on the Seal, Flag and Motto of the Commonwealth met on June 25, 2026 and supported a call by Indigenous leaders on the commission to halt the process of choosing a new design for our state symbol until listening sessions could first be held with all the Native Nations of the Commonwealth, leading to a broad-based educational program for the general public to understand the true history of relations between our settler society and the Native Nations of the region.
Only when this educational program is undertaken, the Indigenous leaders of the Commission said, will the time come for holding public hearings across the state on possible designs for a new state flag and seal. This will take some time, necessarily. Changethemassflag.com and many affiliated peace and social justice groups are supporting this call for a pause in the process to allow time for a broad-based educational program so the public may come to a better understanding of why we must change the flag and seal.
Only then will we support the holding of public hearings to choose a new design.
For more information on the Walk for a New Dawn, which will arrive at Monument Park in Fitchburg on August 7th en route to Maynard on August 9th and the Boston Common on or about August 12th, please contact: info@changethemassflag.com/.
The Civil War Soldiers’ Monument (sculpted by Martin Milmore, dedicated June 24, 1674) bears the engraved inscription: Fitchburg Erects this Monument in memory of her brave sons who fell and in honor of all her loyal citizens who periled their lives in the great struggle which secured the unity of the Republic, and the freedom of an oppressed race. (Image source: https://theclio.com/entry/148798)