State Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, D-Philadelphia, looks at the flags after removing the Confederate flag from a display Tuesday at the state Capitol.

HARRISBURG — Finding it a symbol of racism and hate, Gov. Tom Wolf ordered a Confederate flag removed from a Flag Day exhibit in the state Capitol after the chairman of the black legislators’ caucus took it down but event organizers put it back up.

Wolf took action Wednesday after Capitol police had been summoned to retrieve the flag and return it to the display.

The reproduction of an 1863 Confederate battle flag was part of a historical society’s collection of flags that have flown over what is now the U.S., including from territories and the colonial period.

Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown, a Philadelphia Democrat, said she was astonished to see the flag as she walked through the Capitol’s east wing on Tuesday.

“I just did what I thought was right and I took the flag down,” said Brown, who heads the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus.

She carried it into the chambers and gave it to the House speaker.