Greenwich man removes PH flag at Town Hall, replaces it with US Army flag
Photo from Greenwich Town Hall/LinkedIn
LOS ANGELES – In celebration of Philippine Independence Day, members of the Filipino American community in Greenwich, Conn., gathered outside the Town Hall for a flag-raising ceremony on June 13, 2025. The Philippine flag was going to be displayed until June 16.
The following day, the community discovered that the flag was removed and replaced with the US Army flag.
“The flag was not removed and replaced by any Town personnel and no members of the public were authorized to remove the flag and replace it with another one,” the local government said in a statement posted on its website.
You may like: How Filipino Americans are shaping Philippine Independence Day in the US
Police investigation later revealed that the flag was removed by Greenwich resident David Wold.
Wold issued an apology this week “at the behest of First Selectman Fred Camillo,” according to the statement.
“I sincerely apologize to the Greenwich Filipino-American community for removing the Filipino flag from the Town Hall flagpole on the morning of June 14,” Wold said. “I met with Town officials and am aware that my actions were not only wrong, but hurtful to the Filipino-American community here in Greenwich. I have assured Town officials that this will not happen ever again.”
Wold told investigators he replaced the Philippine flag with the US Army flag to commemorate the anniversary of the Army’s founding on June 14.
In a statement, the local government said the US Army flag would have been “proudly displayed had Mr. Wold asked to hold a ceremonial flag raising.”
“At no time did he do this and he did not have permission to remove another country’s flag from Town property,” the statement said.
“When a ceremonial flag raising is held at Town Hall, it must first be approved by the Board of Selectmen and a resident or organization must then request and organize the ceremony. This policy had been explained multiple times to Mr. Wold and has been followed by every other resident and organization that has had a ceremonial flag raising in both 2024 and 2025 since the Town flag policy was in place.”
Following the police investigation, Wold returned the Philippine flag, which was then brought back to the Town Hall and redisplayed during the week of June 16.
