A survey anonymously asked 400 California elementary, middle, and high schools which flag they display at their most prominent location, whether it’s the main entrance at the front of the campus, the football stadium, or the courtyard. Here are the results:

• 127 displayed the Star Spangled Banner (58 of them displayed California’s state flag underneath it)
• 161 displayed the Rainbow Flag
• 42 displayed both
• 31 displayed only another flag, such as California’s state flag, the POW-MIA flag, or the local school flag
• 12 displayed “all of the above”, meaning the Rainbow Flag, the US flag, and a third flag
• 27 did not respond

Similarly, a study conducted using Google Earth to map 3,200 California schools, revealed that

• 1,055 displayed the Star Spangled Banner (446 of them displayed California’s state flag underneath it)
• 1,257 displayed the Rainbow Flag
• 356 displayed both
• 278 displayed only another flag, such as California’s state flag, the POW-MIA flag, or the local school flag
• 102 displayed “all of the above”, meaning the Rainbow Flag, the US flag, and a third flag

This means that the over half of all studied schools (53.8% in the survey and 53.6% from Google Earth) displayed the LGBT flag, either with or without another flag.

In contrast, under half (45.5% from the survey and 47.3% from Google Earth) of all studied schools at least displayed the American flag, either with or without another flag.

California has over 10,300 schools.

After the legalization of gay marriage in 2015 under Obama’s watch, the Pride Flag is now flown more often in both public and private buildings. Meanwhile, outrage over Trump becoming president in just the following year led to decreased patriotic feelings among liberals, which in turn, led to less displaying of the American, the POW-MIA, and similar flags. 

“We can see that legalizing gay marriage under Obama began an eventful, yet short period that quickly changed societal attitudes about several flags,” says sociologist Keith Smith.

In fact, the Stars & Stripes as well as the Confederate Battle Flag and the Thin Blue Line Flags seen increased flag burning in recent years, thanks to protest groups, such as Black Lives Matter and Antifa. For many on the left, traditional flags “just no longer commanded the respect they used to”, he said.

Unsurprisingly, compared to conservative districts, the ones that preferred to vote liberal had a higher concentration of Pride Flags and a lower concentration of the Star Spangled Banner and historical flags. As with many countries around the world, urban areas in the US tend to be more leftist.