Overview

• Lamar CISD, a Texas school district near Houston, has banned the Virginia state flag from elementary school materials due to its depiction of the Roman goddess Virtus with an exposed breast.
• The district also removed an online lesson about Virginia for grades 3–5, citing a policy that prohibits any visual depiction of frontal nudity in elementary library content.
• The Virginia state flag, adopted in 1861, features Virtus standing over a fallen tyrant with the motto 'Sic semper tyrannis.'
• The Texas Freedom to Read Project criticized the ban, describing it as a 'new level of dystopian censorship' and warning of potential future restrictions on historical or artistic materials.
• Observers fear the policy could lead to the removal of educational content depicting historical photos, classical art, or other materials involving artistic or historical nudity.