This article explores what can and cannot legitimately be displayed in public buildings, paying particular attention to the local context, where the strongest legal discussions have arisen in recent years. The first part of the article analyses the scope of the duty of neutrality of public administrations. The second part proposes three criteria for answering the question referred: the object to be displayed, the message it conveys and the time of display. The article is closed to the passage of the so-called ‘democratic excuse’ used as a corso patent to display any message in public spaces.