Replacing ‘Fiesta’ Flags Less Costly Than Expected

Replacing the flags that went missing from the Woodbridge Society’s annual Fiesta Mondiale event last Friday will only cost $100, contrary to the student group’s initial belief, according to the Office of the University Marshal.

The organization of international students held its Fiesta in the Adams House dining hall and discovered at the end of the evening that two of five large flags loaned from the Marshal’s office and used to decorate the walls were nowhere to be found.

Members of the group had worried at first that it would take a substantial portion of their budget to replace the Australian and Paraguayan flags that went missing.

However, the Office of the University Marshal—which is responsible for arranging the visits of national and international dignitaries to Harvard—recently informed the concerned board members that the flags, despite their fancy appearance, could be replaced at a low cost.

“We’re basically just ordering two standard flags from the same company to replace the two that were lost,” said Woodbridge Society President Rebecca R. Gong ’08. “They were really understanding.”

The Marshal’s office is allowing the Woodbridge Society to replace the Paraguayan flag with one that is different from and less unique than the one used at Fiesta, which is no longer made.

“The flags will not be identical, in consideration of the Woodbridge Society’s budget,” wrote Christian Herwitz, a staff assistant in the Office of the University Marshal, in an e-mail statement.

—Staff writer Victoria B. Kabak can be reached at vkabak@fas.harvard.edu.