An American flag that hung above the newly opened American Bar was taken down today, after members of parliament expressed their outrage.
Some politicians felt it was inappropriate to pass beneath the flag on their way into their offices, which are housed above the ground floor bars shops along Austurstræti.
“This is intolerable and unbearable,” said Independence Party MP Vilhjálmur Bjarnason, in interview with Morgunblaðið before the flag was taken down.
Einar K. Guðfinnsson, the speaker of parliament and Independence Party MP, saw this incident as an example of the need for Parliament to have their own premises to house all their offices.
However, this won’t be necessary, as the flag has been taken down.
“We took it down because they asked us to take it down,” Hermann Svendsen, owner of American Bar, told the Grapevine. He explained that they didn’t expect it was going to offend anyone and pointed out that they still have a decorative flag inside the premises.
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