The Trump State Department, headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has reportedly implemented a policy stating that any U.S. outposts in the country and abroad may fly only one flag: the United States flag.
Flags that were flown at the behest of the Biden administration such as the LGBT pride flag and Black Lives Matter flags will no longer be flown, although the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action (POW/MIA) emblem and the Wrongful Detainees Flags are permitted to be flown.
The order states, according to The Washington Free Beacon, which obtained a copy, “Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorized to be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in U.S. government content. The flag of the United States of America united all Americans under the universal principles of justice, liberty, and democracy. These values, which are the bedrock of our great country, are shared by all American citizens, past and present. … The U.S. flag is a powerful symbol of pride and it is fitting and respectful that only the U.S. flag be flown or displayed at U.S. facilities, both domestically and abroad.”
A State Department employee transgressing the new policy will “face disciplinary action, including termination of employment or contract, or reassignment to their home agency.”
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In April 2021, then-Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken authorized U.S. embassies and consulates to fly the rainbow pride flag on the same pole as the American flag. “According to the cable and a State Department official, Mr. Blinken authorized diplomats to fly the pride flag before May 17, which is the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, and to continue their display at diplomatic outposts through the month of June,” The New York Times reported.
In June 2021, the U.S. embassy in Nassau “raised the rainbow Pride Flag to honor the human rights of LGBTQI+ persons in The Bahamas and around the world,” the State Department stated. “The widely recognized rainbow flag will fly from the flagpole of the U.S. Embassy in Downtown Nassau, and at the Chief of Mission Residence on Sanford Road.”
“The administration also raised the Black Lives Matter flag at the U.S. embassy and consulates in Brazil to celebrate Black History Month in February 2022,” the Free Beacon noted.
