Did Denali National Park ban American flags? No. Here’s what happened

Was the American flag barred from Alaska’s Denali National Park & Preserve on Memorial Day weekend, as social media users claim?

A May 27 Instagram post showed a photo of snowy mountains and an American flag, and a caption that read, "Alaska @Sen_DanSullivan is demanding answers after reports emerged that the American flag was banned from being flown at Denali National Park over Memorial Day weekend.⁠"

Other Instagram and X users, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, also shared similar posts about an American flag ban at Denali National Park.

This appears to have originated with a May 23 report from conservative news outlet Alaska Watchman, which cited an unnamed construction worker involved with a bridge project in Denali National Park. According to the Alaska Watchman report, the worker said Denali National Park Superintendent Brooke Merrell told the crew’s supervisor that bridge workers could no longer fly the American flag on their trucks.

Two days after the Alaska Watchman report, Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, shared on X a letter he sent to the National Park Service demanding an explanation for the purported American flag ban. A day later, on May 26, a convoy of trucks flying the American flag drove two hours from Fairbanks, Alaska, to Denali National Park.

The National Park Service issued a May 26 statement that said reports of Denali construction workers being ordered to remove the American flag from their vehicles are "false."

"At no time did an NPS official seek to ban the American flag from the project site or associated vehicles. The NPS neither administers the bridge project contract, nor has the authority to enforce terms or policies related to the contract or contractors performing the work," the statement read.

The National Park Service said the American flag has continued to fly in multiple locations throughout Denali National Park, including at campsites, on public and private vehicles and at employee residences.

The Federal Highway Administration, which is overseeing the contract for bridge construction work inside Denali National Park, told PolitiFact in a statement that the agency "fully supports the display of American flags."

"As is always the case with construction work in our national parks, the goal is to minimize impacts and noise for both visitors and wildlife as much as possible. (National Park Service) staff relayed concerns to (the Federal Highway Administration) — as it does with all feedback related to the project — regarding single occupant vehicle traffic, as well as a visitor complaint about a flag on a vehicle while the vehicle was in motion. (The Federal Highway Administration) brought both concerns to the responsible contractor, who addressed the situation per their usual process," the agency said.

A separate statement the Federal Highway Administration provided to Alaska Public Media said the complaint was "about the noise a bridge worker’s vehicle-mounted flag was making while travelling the Park Road."

The contractor, Granite Construction, told Alaska Public Media that it had been asked by the highway administration to remove the vehicle’s flag, and it complied because the project is aimed at "maintain(ing) park visitors’ experience by keeping a low profile as we go about our work."