Give us back the boob flag, Texas

A viral art history video captured what school officials missed: that nudity isn’t the problem—it’s how we fear it

Recently, I was sent a video on YouTube titled GIVE US BACK the BOOB FLAG, Texas by Rebekah Campbell-Harding, who runs the art history channel A Brush with Bekah. I checked it out, half expecting satire. What I got was a lucid, funny, and sharply informed breakdown of a censorship controversy I hadn’t even heard about. By the end, I was both better educated and a little embarrassed I hadn’t covered the story myself.

The video lays out a controversy that recently resurfaced in headlines, following renewed attention to a decision made in late 2024 by Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, located southwest of Houston, Texas. According to The Guardian, the district removed a lesson about Virginia from its online database PebbleGo Next, citing the state flag’s depiction of the Roman goddess Virtus with one breast exposed.

Yep, really.

The official state flag of Virginia

The removal came as part of the district’s implementation of a new policy banning “visual depictions or illustrations of frontal nudity” from elementary school library materials, a decision that critics called an overreach of Texas’s READER Act.¹

The figure on the Virginia flag is Virtus, the Roman personification of virtue and military strength. Since 1776, she has appeared on Virginia's official seal standing triumphantly over tyranny, spear in hand, breast exposed. But this wasn’t originally the case.

When the seal was first created, she was clothed. It wasn’t until 1901 that officials complained the image lacked clarity and femininity, prompting the addition of a single breast to “clarify” her gender. So yes, Texas has effectively censored a breast that was added on purpose to indicate that the allegorical figure was, in fact, a woman.

The irony, of course, is hard to miss: in the name of protecting children, a modern school district has censored a symbol of defiance against tyranny—by restricting access to art and history itself. 🤔

Give the video a watch

Bekah’s excellent video explains all of this and more with wit and a levity that never undercuts the seriousness of the issue. She weaves in references to Amazons, breastfeeding Madonnas, and museum field trips, reminding viewers that nudity has long played a vital role in art and culture. She even points out the irony that the same Texas district also removed a digital lesson on types of families for mentioning gender fluidity—while Virtus, it turns out, has been depicted in various forms across history: old man, young soldier, mother figure.

What makes Bekah’s commentary stand out is that she doesn’t just say the policy is silly—she succinctly points out why the fear behind it is so misplaced. By censoring classical nudity, schools aren’t protecting children; they’re teaching them that the human body is something to be hidden, feared, and sexualized by default. That lesson isn’t just inaccurate—it’s harmful.

“It’s just a boob. Get over it,” she says at the end of the video. Pretty much sums it up. Watch her video above or right here.

There’s been no walk-back from the Texas school district—no apology, no reversal. But Bekah’s video gave the moment the clarity it deserved. In just eight minutes, she covered the history, the absurdity, and the cultural stakes better than any news outlet. That’s worth noting. Because the people best equipped to talk about the human body—with context, humor, and care—aren’t policymakers. They’re artists and educators. 🪐

1. Helmore, E. (2025, April 18). What a boob: Texas school district bans Virginia state flag and seal over naked breast. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/18/texas-bans-virginia-flag-breast