Flags Flown at ICS

International Community School (ICS) has seven flagpoles located at the front of the school building. For this written practice, the poles are sequentially numbered one through seven from east to west.

ICS will fly the flag of the United States of America on Pole 1 and the flag of the State of Washington on Pole 2 while school is in session. In accordance with LWSD policy, the Pride flag will fly under the flag of the State of Washington during the month of June, and the Juneteenth Flag will fly under the flag of the State of Washington on June 19 (or as directed).

Twenty flags of other countries recognized by the US Department of State will fly on the other five poles, four per pole. The process of selecting the flags and the order of flying them are as follows:

1. Establishment of the Flag Rotation List
   • A list of the short form names of the 196 countries currently recognized as Independent States by the US Department of State was accessed on June 18, 2025, at https://www.state.gov/independent-states-in-the-world/.
   • Each name was assigned a random number, and the list was sorted by the random numbers to create the rotation list.
2. Display Order of Flags
   • The 20 flags at the top of the rotation list will fly on Poles 3-7, with four flags per pole.
   • Using the officially recognized Short Form Name (as listed on the United States Department of State website), the 20 flags will be flown in alphabetical order starting with the first flag (Country A) as the top flag on Pole 3, the second flag (Country B) as the top flag on Pole 4, the third flag (Country C) on Pole 5, and continuing through the twentieth flag (Country T) as the bottom flag on Pole 7 (see diagram below).
3. Flag Inspection & Replacement Schedule
   • Flags will be inspected for signs of wear, fading, or damage at the end of each semester.
   • If a flag is found to be in poor condition, it will be marked for replacement, and the country will be moved to the bottom of the rotation list.
   • Replacement flags will be purchased and flown in accordance with the rotation list.
   • If a country’s flag is not available to purchase through normal channels or the cost of the flag is more than practical, that country’s flag will be marked for review in the next replacement cycle and the flag from the next country on the rotation list will be considered for purchase.
   • For the purpose of this practice, practical to purchase is defined as costing no more than double the average purchase price of the flags currently flown.
4. Addition/Removal from Rotation List
   • When a country is newly recognized as an Independent State by the United States Department of State, that country’s name will be added to the end of the rotation list.
   • If any country is no longer officially recognized by the United States, that country’s name will be removed from the rotation list.
   • If the flag of a no-longer-recognized country is currently being flown, it will be removed and replaced with the flag from the next country on the rotation list.
5. Public Transparency & Rotation List Maintenance
   • The full rotation list, current flag display status, and replacement schedule will be maintained on a publicly accessible page on the ICS website.
   • Any updates to flag replacements will be recorded and shared to maintain transparency.