New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation banning the selling or displaying of hate symbols on public property and taxpayer-funded equipment.

State Sen. Anna M. Kaplan and Assemblymember Michaelle Solages, both of Long Island, introduced the legislation after an incident last year in which a Confederate flag was displayed on a fire truck in Long Island, and another in which a Confederate flag was hung from a fire department window.

The bill defines symbols of hate as including, but not limited to, symbols of white supremacy, neo-Nazi ideology or the Battle Flag of the Confederacy. Excluded are symbols that serve an “educational or historical purpose,” such as in a museum or book.

“Public property belongs to all of us, and this measure is critical to ensure that our public property isn’t being used to promote hatred,” says Kaplan in a press release. “You would think it was common sense that taxpayer-owned property couldn’t be used as a platform for hate, but shockingly there was no law on the books saying so — until now.”

Public property is defined as a school district, a fire district, volunteer fire company or police department and the taxpayer-funded equipment they use.

According to the NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, swastikas are among the most common hate symbols displayed in the United States today.