WASHINGTON — The House voted Thursday to ban the display of the Confederate flag on flagpoles at federal veterans’ cemeteries.

The 265-159 vote would block descendants and others seeking to commemorate veterans of the Confederate States of America from flying the Confederate Battle Flag over mass graves on the two days a year that flag displays are permitted.

California Democrat Jared Huffman drafted the prohibition, saying the flag represents “racism, slavery and division.”

Huffman’s amendment is mostly symbolic and applies only to instances in which Confederate flags are flown on flagpoles over mass graves. The amendment would not ban the display of small Confederate flags placed at individual graves.

Top House GOP leaders such as Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California and GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana voted with Democrats to approve the amendment.

“Symbols like the Confederate battle flag have meaning. ... They represent slavery, oppression, lynching and hate,” Huffman said.