After weeks of wrangling, the Pentagon is banning displays of the Confederate flag on military installations, in a carefully worded policy that doesn't mention the word ban or that specific flag.

Signed by Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Thursday night, the memo lists the types of flags that may be displayed at military installations. The Confederate flag is not among them — thus barring its display without singling it out in a "ban."

Laid out in a memo released Friday, the policy could increase tension between Esper and Republican President Donald Trump, who has cited free speech rights in his defense of Americans who fly the Confederate flag.

"We must always remain focused on what unifies us," Esper's memo stated. "The flags we fly must accord with the military imperatives of good order and discipline, treating all our people with dignity and respect, and rejecting divisive symbols."

The Marine Corps has already banned the Confederate flag. Gen. David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps, directed his commanders in early June to remove public displays of the Confederate battle flag. That flag, which some embrace as a symbol of heritage, "carries the power to inflame feelings of division" and can weaken the unit cohesion that combat requires, Berger said.

The Confederate flag was flown by breakaway Southern states that advocated for the continuation of slavery and lost the 1861-65 U.S. Civil War.

Supporters say the flag represents the South's heritage and culture and, along with U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals and statues honoring them, serve as memorials to Confederate casualties in the Civil War.

Trump, who has been accused of intentionally stoking racial tensions as part of his re-election campaign, has criticized the desecration and removal of statues of Confederate and other former U.S. leaders to energize his political base

Trump has also publicly opposed renaming U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals, such as Fort Hood in Texas and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, putting him at odds with his military, whose top general has said the matter should be re-examined.

(With input from agencies)