An unexpected protagonist has slipped into the (convulsive) public debate in the US: the ikurriña. glancingly and for those hazards of history that raise eyebrows, the flag of Euskadi has become a headache for the legislators of the country led by Trump. To be more precise, the controversy has jumped in boise (the capital of Idaho), where a active diaspora which explains why the city has its own Basque ‘neighborhood’, Basque Block. There you can find traditional bars, a museum… and ikurriñas.
Now, in full debate Regarding which flags can or cannot be raised on their masts, there are those who believe that red, green and white banners have no place.
What has happened? That Idaho has plunged into a nasty fight about what flags they can fly in their streets, at least from public buildings. So far, nothing strange in a nation whose public debate (already tense) is taking place pending a key date: November 3House of Representatives election day. What is striking is the drift that this discussion has taken and how it has ended up focusing the focus on the ikurriñas.
Question of flags. To understand it, you must first understand the convoluted political board of Boise. On one side we have its mayor, the Democrat Lauren McLean. In the other Ted HillRepublican MP from Idaho. Some time ago the first, McLean, earned the anger of Hill and the rest of the conservative bench by keeping the LGTBIQ+ flag hanging on the façade of City Hall beyond the Pride Month‘Pride Month’.
That decision I didn’t like it in Donald Trump’s party, which began to legislate so that only official emblems can be hoisted. At least in public buildings. The measure went ahead and the issue seemed to be settled. At least for a while.
Wasn’t it like that? No. McLaren was not willing to give in. In a clever twist, Boise declared the LGTBIQ+ flag official in the city, continuing to fly it without violating Republican law. Was the fight over at that point? No. Hill reacted by launching the legislative machinery so that the only flags ‘able’ on the Government’s flagpoles are those prior to 2023, the year in which Boise assumed the rainbow banner as its own.
What does all this have to do with Euskadi? Initially the republican norm included certain exceptions (flags other than the Stars and Stripes that could be displayed on public buildings), but as time went by, their proposal became more rigid. And that affected one of Boise’s most popular groups: the Basque diaspora. As strange as it may sound, in the city of Ada County it is not only possible to see flags of the USA, the state of Idaho or LGTBIQ+. It is also not unusual to find ikurriñas waving in the wind.
Why’s that? Although Bouse is thousands of kilometers from Euskadi, it hosts an active Basque community whose history can go back to the 19th century, when a group of Biscayan emigrants decided to find a life in the United States.
The passage of time (and generations) did not erase its identity and today in Boise, recognizes the Hispanic Council itselfit is possible to find “an entire block dedicated to Basque culture”, with restaurants, frontons, a museum and even an education center. The greatest emblem of the diaspora in Idaho (with permission from the ikurriña) is the Jaialdia festival that moves thousands of people and which in 2025 even had a visit of Lehendakari Imanol Pradales.
On festival days it is even easier to come across the Basque flag. “It flies during Jaialdi, when the Basque delegation comes to our state and we honor that deep heritage in Idaho. To me, it is a very appropriate way, reason and occasion to fly the autonomous flag of the Basque community. I wonder how it is different from flying the flag of another country for a special occasion,” I questioned recently Democratic Representative Anne Haws.
And the storm broke out. The ikurriña was not the trigger for the controversy over the Idaho flags, but over the months it has ended up becoming (almost suddenly) one of its main protagonists. To understand it, we must review the legislative debates around the new rule, in which Hill did not hesitate to explain why his party wants to restrict the use of the Basque flag.
The problem has not been so much the veto itself, but rather its confusing (and thorny) argument. The Republican alleged that the ikurriña is not officially “recognized”, it is “a revolutionary flag”, he related it to ETA and even stated that it is “illegal” to fly it in Spain. “It would be crossing the line, and then the Palestinian flag would have to be allowed too,” Hill concluded.
A few days ago, fellow Republican Bret Crane tried to tone downalthough without getting out of the puddle. During a public intervention he acknowledged that in the future some formula could be found that would allow the ikurriña to be hoisted, but he did not renounce the substance of the republican message. In fact, he asked his colleagues if they should also allow “Muslim or similar flags” that represent “people who have also had difficulties in Idaho.”
What is the situation now? There are two fronts, the administrative and the political. In the first, the new rule (House Bill 561) continues to advance. On Tuesday the newspaper Idaho Capital Sun echoed how a group of opponents waved LGTBIQ+ flags in the Boise Capitol in the middle of the debate on the measure, which goes gradually overcoming its processing.
Once completed, the prosecutor will be able to enforce the veto on unofficial flags and those who ignore it will risk a considerable fine: 2,000 dollars a day for every ‘wrong’ banner hung from a public building.
“The right to wave it”. In the political field, the debate about flags has crossed the pond to reach this side of the Atlantic. The president of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, has remembered in networks that “this is not the first time that someone has tried to outlaw the ikurriña” and defended that “Basques have the right to wave it throughout our beloved diaspora.”
The theme has even reached the European Parliamentwhere MEP Oihane Agirregoitia, also from the PNV, showed his discomfort. “In Idaho they are bothered by the ikurriña, the flag of the Basque people, which for decades has flown as a symbol of coexistence, community, identity, friendship and peace.”
Images | Eneko Bidegain (Flickr) and Wikipedia
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