And for years, the city has allowed the flag to be flown during June, Pride Month, along with the U.S. and Idaho flags on the city-owned flagpoles along Harrison.

Idaho’s state statute doesn’t define what a flag is, according to Ada County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lauren Montague, who said the office was relying on the Oxford dictionary definition.

Still, for many in Idaho’s capital city, the aim of the law was clear. “They did it as a direct stab to Boise, to make them take the flag down,” said Meda Thompson, creator of Boise Pride Pages, an ...