Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case on the question of not only whose speech is on a government-issued license plate but also whether or not the government is able to limit that speech.

The Texas division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans recently proposed a specialty license plate that would contain a Confederate battle flag with the group’s name around it. Specialty plates have to be approved by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and the board rejected the plate because much of the public identified the flag with organizations “that demean or express hatred for minorities,” according to npr.org.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans sued the state saying that it violated its First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The state, however, argued that it should not be expected to promote the message by displaying it on the state-issued license plates and that citizens have countless other opportunities for displaying the symbol on their cars.

Although the questions of whether the government has the right to choose what it can identify with and if the plates or government or personal speech have yet to be answered, the most important factor to take into consideration is simply the citizens’ right to freedom of speech.

No matter how many people may be offended by the Confederate battle flag as many believe it is a symbol of racism, slavery and an outdated view of the country, it is still a form of speech by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. It can be presumed, those who chose to have the license plates want to honor their ancestors, something that is a normal and acceptable part of our society.

The state of Texas has set a precedent for honoring fallen Confederate soldiers, according to npr.org. Texas has a Confederate Heroes Day and monuments around the state. Representatives of the Sons of Confederate Veterans point this out as hypocrisy in the state’s desire to not want to be identified with the message.

The reality of the situation is, the government does not have the ability to ban speech simply because it may offend some. While the Confederate battle flag does not spark positive feelings in many around the country and this board does not support the ideals of the flag or the group, citizens in this country do have the right to speak freely. Limiting those rights, especially based on the content of the speech, is the start of a slippery slope for all Americans.

Although many of us can agree the Confederate battle flag is not the ideal way we would like to see freedom of speech exercised in our country, we can appreciate all of our abilities to speak freely. The Sons of Confederate Veterans do have the right to put the Confederate battle flag on license plates and the Supreme Court should weigh heavily individuals’ freedom of speech over the government’s.