The state of Deseret flag still flies over Salt Lake City | The Salt Lake Tribune

The Flag of the Kingdom of God of the State of Deseret flies above Utah's capital city at the Ensign Peak Nature Park — a Salt Lake City municipal park.

After calls to take down the Confederate flag flying over the South Carolina Capitol last week, historian John Gary Maxwell said Utahns should have a similar conversation.

"It's certainly confusing to me," he said regarding the LDS flag. "Up until Brigham Young's death, Utah was a theocracy. There was no separation between church and state."

The Ensign Peak preserve was dedicated to the city by Gordon B. Hinckley, the late president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in 1996. Its trailhead bears three flags: the Stars and Stripes, Utah's state flag and the flag representing the State of Deseret that later became the Territory of Utah before statehood in 1896.

The State of Deseret flag could be at odds with the separation of church and state outlined in the U.S. Constitution, Maxwell said.

And, he noted, even today, Utah legislative leaders meet with LDS officials before the annual legislative session convenes in January.

"It's appropriate for people to discuss what it means," Maxwell said. "With the flag up there, it says to me there is no separation between church and state."

The state of Deseret flag still flies over Salt Lake City | The Salt Lake Tribune