Small yellow Gadsden flags blossomed like late daffodils Monday on the desks of 18 Republicans in the House of Representatives, not a complaint of Connecticut’s uncertain spring but a rebuke to a Muslim colleague born in Pakistan: Rep. Maryam Khan, a Democrat from Windsor.

On Khan’s desk in the third row, three off the center aisle of the House, the tiny U.S. flag displayed on most desks since the attack on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001 had disappeared. In its place was the flag of Pakistan, a green banner with a crescent and star symbolizing its founding as a Muslim homeland.

“I displayed the Pakistani flag as a reflection of my heritage and personal pride. Any suggestion that it represents something improper or disloyal is simply inaccurate,” Khan said in a text. “Pakistan is a longstanding diplomatic partner of the United States, and acknowledging one’s background does not diminish commitment to this country or to serving the people of Connecticut.”

Khan, a school teacher elected to the House in a special election in 2022, said she made the switch after reports April 8 of Pakistan’s success in brokering a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. She said she was disappointed that no Republican approached her directly before staging their mini-flag protest.

“I’ve had the Pakistani flag in my office for little while,” Khan said. 

It replaced the U.S. flag as a matter of pride, not a rebuke to America, the country where she is now a citizen, Khan said. Space on legislative desks is limited, she said.

“I’m going to try to get a multiple-flag holder so I can have multiple flags,” she said.

House Minority Leader Vincent J. Candelora, R-North Branford, confirmed that the Gadsden flag and at least one Israeli flag displayed Monday after the House returned from a week’s recess were directed at Khan’s flag and what the GOP saw as an uneven enforcement of rules barring political displays.

The Gadsden flag features a coiled rattlesnake over the legend, “Dont tread on me.”

During Gov. Ned Lamont’s speech to a joint session of the General Assembly on opening day in early February, a Republican lawmaker protested Lamont’s denunciation of federal immigration tactics by turning her back and motioning to two words on her blazer: ICE IN. 

That prompted a rebuke by House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford.

Candelora said he saw inconsistent enforcement of the rules “if we’re going to be told that there is no signage allowed in a building, that tomfoolery is not going to be tolerated, and then we turn around and see the Democrat Party has allowed” the display of flags.

There was no Gadsden flag on his desk.

“I don’t support any of these flags being put up at people’s desks. I think it should be a blanket rule. The only flag that should be on our desk is the American flag,” Candelora said.

Other flags have appeared from time to time, and Ritter noted the rules do not specifically prohibit them.

One legislator of Greek descent has a Greek flag beside a U.S flag on her desk. Irish flags have been known to appear around St. Patrick’s Day. House Majority Leader Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, the first Latino in the top leadership ranks, has the flags of the U.S., Connecticut and Puerto Rico.

Ritter said he would speak to Candelora around whether the House needed a rule on tiny flags. He sighed.

“I don’t think I was elected to debate flags all day,” Ritter told reporters. “I’ll make it my job for today, I guess.”