The fight over whether the Confederate flag should fly on public property in Marion County isn't over yet.

At a packed meeting Monday, the rebel banner's supporters and opponents made their case to the Marion County Historical Commission.

Nearly 100 people attended the community meeting to make sure members of the historical commission heard their opinions.

County leaders have asked the commission to give an opinion recommending the best place to fly the Confederate flag in Marion County.

Supporters of the flag, include Robert Hatch, say it's about heritage, not hate.

"I got family up in New York in the Klan. I don't practice that," Hatch said.

The Confederate banner flies outside the Marion County Government complex alongside the Spanish, French, British and American flags, a display erected in 1995 as a tribute to the five flags that have flown over Florida in its over 500-year history since European explorers first set foot on the shores of what is now the Sunshine State.

But depending on whom you ask, the Confederate flag means something different.

"Feelings and thoughts, it's a heritage. It's not hate. It symbolizes ancestors," Hatch said.

"I think the Confederate flag is a symbol of fear and oppression for a significant portion of the population," said the Rev. Janet Onnie, of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Marion County. "I understand heritage, and I understand that history is important, and to honor the people who died in the cause of the Confederacy. But that was a long time ago."

One idea which seemed to gain traction Monday is to move the flag from the government complex and put it on display on a heritage trail from Ocala to Silver Springs.

But the Rev. Reginald Willis Sr., president of the Marion County chapter of the NAACP, said he believes the flag has no place flying on public property.

"The rebel flag, blood-stained banner, should have no prominence in a public display on anywhere where the taxpaying citizens of Marion County are to venture," Willis said, adding, "To be put in a museum, that's fine."

"Now, after listening to everything else, it seems like to really make this worthwhile and to end right ← and I really hate to say this, because I didn't feel this way until I got here — I think the American flag should be the only flag flown out there," said Hal Watts, of Ocala.

County commissioners said they want the Confederate flag issue resolved by mid-September or early October.

The historical commission is expected to make its recommendation at a meeting scheduled for Monday, Aug. 17, at 5:30 p.m. at the Marion County Growth Management Building.