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After a few tense months, a lot of headlines and at least one very New York-style protest, the Pride flag is officially returning to where many say it never should have left: the Stonewall National Monument.
The Trump administration has agreed to reinstall the rainbow flag at the West Village site as part of a legal settlement with LGBTQ+ and historic preservation groups, effectively ending a dispute that began when the National Park Service removed it in February. The flag’s removal was first framed as compliance with federal rules limiting which flags can fly on government property, but critics saw it as something else entirely.
Stonewall, of course, isn’t just any park. The 7.7-acre monument across from the Stonewall Inn is home to the site of the 1969 uprising that helped ignite the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. The Pride flag had been installed there in 2022, becoming one of the first permanent Pride flags on federal land. Its removal earlier this year sparked immediate backlash, rallies and a lawsuit arguing the decision violated protections for historically significant sites.
Now, under the terms of the agreement (which has been approved in federal court), the flag will be returned to the monument’s official flagpole within seven days—and it’s not temporary. The government has committed to keeping it there permanently, with removal allowed only for maintenance or practical reasons. When it goes back up, it will fly alongside two other flags: the American flag at the top and the National Park Service flag below, all equal in size and arranged according to U.S. flag code.
The reversal is both a legal win and a symbolic one for advocates. Groups behind the lawsuit argued from the start that the Pride flag qualifies under federal policy because it provides clear historical context at Stonewall, a site that’s fundamentally tied to LGBTQ+ history.
The saga also played out on the ground. After the original flag was taken down, activists and elected officials raised their own replacement at the site, attracting crowds and turning the monument into a focal point for protests and public pressure. That unofficial flag stayed in place but without the settlement, it could have been removed at any time.
City leaders and advocates have framed the outcome as a reminder that, in New York, certain symbols aren’t easily erased. And at Stonewall (arguably the most symbolic site in the LGBTQ+ rights movement), that includes the rainbow flag.