The inauguration of Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco on Wednesday in the plaza outside City Hall had it all: prominent speakers, a packed audience, and performers ranging from Chinese lion dancers to the Gay Men’s Chorus.
But eagle-eyed observers might have noticed something missing. Or, really, 18 things missing. Two rows of nine historic banners, known as the Pavilion of American Flags, were gone from the plaza. In their place were 18 matching light-blue flags with the city seal.
A new day in San Francisco? Nope. Not on the flag front, anyway. By Friday morning, the old ones were back, billowing in the breeze.
The city’s flag collection drew attention in May when a San Francisco resident raised concerns that the quintessentially liberal city was flying the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which had also been spotted outside Justice Samuel A. Alito’s New Jersey vacation home.
Originally flown by George Washington’s ships in the Revolutionary War as a symbol of rebellion against the British, the white flag with a green pine tree has since become associated with the “Stop the Steal” movement. Some rioters carried it as they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, seeking to stop Joseph R. Biden Jr. from being certified as the winner of the presidential election.
Critics said Justice Alito should recuse himself from cases related to the Jan. 6 attack for displaying the flag, but he did not, saying his wife was the one responsible for flying it.
Mayor London Breed, who lost to Mr. Lurie in the November election, removed the “Appeal to Heaven” flag from the city’s display in May and replaced it with an American flag. She said at the time that she would consider removing others that were provocative, but did not end up doing so before she left office.
Still flying under her watch — and again Friday, under Mr. Lurie’s — was the Gadsden flag, a yellow banner with a coiled rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me” that has become associated with the conservative Tea Party movement and gun enthusiasts and is considered by some to have racist connotations.
Also still flying is the Betsy Ross flag, a Revolutionary War flag with 13 stars in a circle. That flag, too, has become controversial, adopted by some far-right groups to signify a time when white men held all power. Nike even pulled sneakers with the flag in 2019 at the urging of former N.F.L. quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who said the flag was linked to slavery.
Both the Gadsden flag and the Betsy Ross flag were carried by Jan. 6 rioters. A spokesman for Mr. Lurie said on Friday that the mayor would review the current collection of flags.
Since 1964, San Francisco’s pavilion has showcased flags that played an important role in the nation’s history. A Confederate flag flew in the display for 20 years before a protester twice tore it down and Mayor Dianne Feinstein decided, after the second time, not to reinstall it.
On Wednesday, the flags temporarily vanished. The light blue replacements matched the scores of banners hanging from light poles, far larger banners hanging on the facade of City Hall and fancy programs handed out to guests.
The event’s evening component was even splashier: a street party in Chinatown that featured fireworks and a performance by the electronic music producer Zhu.
A campaign spokesman for Mr. Lurie, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune who spent nearly $9 million of his own money on his campaign, declined to say how much the décor and festivities cost or who paid for it all. He said the disclosures would be made public within 30 days of the inauguration as required by law.
The event’s producer, Stanlee Gatti, designed the inauguration and said the light blue signified hope. He said he would encourage the new mayor to learn about the history of the flags and why they had been co-opted by groups like the Jan. 6 rioters.
“Different people interpret things in different ways,” he said. “But if it’s become something that’s anti-American, yeah, of course I think they should come down.”
Mr. Gatti noted that San Franciscans might appreciate the inclusion of a Pride flag supporting L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
The decision of which flags stay or go is entirely up to the mayor, and a new directive could be coming soon. Charles Kretchmer Lutvak, a spokesman for Mr. Lurie, said the administration put the collection back in place as a matter of course after the decorative inauguration ones came down.
But when asked why some controversial banners remained up, he said the mayor would review them.
“The symbols we display should reflect the best of our communities and our city,” he said.