No Pride flags at US embassies, govt buildings: What is Trump’s ‘one flag’ policy?

The Donald Trump administration has banned the US State Department buildings from flying any flags other than the American flag. The directive will also apply to US embassies and overseas missions.

The “One flag policy” comes at a time when the US president has begun a crackdown on diversity efforts in government institutions. The order, reportedly issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday (January 21), is a big departure from the policy of the previous Joe Biden administration.

Let’s take a closer look.

US govt bans non-American flags

The US Department of State has directed consular posts to fly only the American flag.

“Starting immediately, only the United States of America flag is authorised to be flown or displayed at US facilities, both domestic and abroad, and featured in US government content,” according to the order, seen by The Guardian.

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“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.”

Besides the Stars and Stripes, the only flags allowed to fly are the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action, which were officially recognised as a national symbol by the US Congress in 1990.

The Wrongful Detainee flag, adopted in 2023, is also permitted.

Employees from the State Department who violate the policy will “face disciplinary action, including termination of employment or contract, or reassignment to their home agency," as per the order.

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“The US flag is a powerful symbol of pride and it is fitting and respectful that only the US flag be flown or displayed at US facilities, both domestically and abroad,” Rubio ordered, according to the Washington Free Beacon. 

Shift from Biden era

The Trump administration order is a major shift from former US President Biden’s policies. During the Democrat’s term in the White House, gay pride and Black Lives Matter flags were flown at embassies abroad.

The US government buildings often flew other flags to show solidarity with more explicit political causes.

Biden also hosted Pride celebrations in the White House for the LGBTQ+ community on the South Lawn in 2023 and 2024. Pride flags were also displayed at the White House during the 2023 Pride Month celebration.

In February 2022, the US Embassy and Consulate in Brazil raised the Black Lives Matter flag to “commemorate Black History Month” and the birthday of abolitionist and lawmaker Frederick Douglas. This was later done at US embassies in Trinidad and Tobago, as per Newsweek.

In 2021, the US Embassy in Nassau declared that the rainbow colours would be flown for the whole month of June. This prompted backlash from the Bahamas Christian Council, which called it “overreaching and insensitive to the moral and ideological position of this country.”

Blow to diversity efforts

Since returning to the White House for a second term on Monday, Trump has signed several executive orders including in which he called for US federal agencies to stop all DEI (Diversity, equity, and inclusion) programmes. He directed that all employees in DEI positions be put on paid leave by 5 pm Wednesday.

Trump also said there are “only two genders, male and female”. In an executive order titled ‘Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’, the US president said “it is the policy of the United States to recognise two sexes, male and female”, and that the term “gender identity” is “disconnected from biological reality and sex”.

Display of Pride flags outside State Department facilities was previously banned under a $1.2 trillion spending package signed by President Joe Biden in March that stated that “none of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be obligated or expended to fly or display a flag over a facility of the United States Department of State.”

Reacting to the recent order, Kevin Jennings, chief executive officer at Lambda Legal, an American civil rights organisation focused on LGBTQ communities, told Newsweek: “Banning Pride and other flags is just petty and mean-spirited. Flying such flags is simply a signal to people that they matter. It hurts no one. We have much bigger challenges to address as a nation and this is just a small-minded distraction from them.”

With inputs from agencies