OVER 190 flags have been taken down from a historic building as government officials warn employees to remember who they work for.

The move sparked backlash in the diplomatic community.

A long row of American flags hangs vertically along a large glass wall inside a modern building with a high, geometric ceiling. — The State Department swapped out all the flags, representing other countries, in their atrium for rows of American flags Credit: Instagram/statedept

State Department employees applaud as colleagues walk through the lobby of the State Department headquarters in Washington, with numerous international flags hanging from the ceiling in the background. — All of the State Department’s colorful world flags have been taken down Credit: AP

The State Department’s main atrium in Washington DC has lost all of its international flags.

The hall previously held 190 flags of countries the US has diplomatic relations with.

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Ahead of the celebration for America’s 250th anniversary, the flags were swapped out for all American flags.

“It’s a good reminder of who we work for — the American people!” Christopher Landau, the deputy secretary of state, wrote on X when the flags were unveiled in June.

The initial change didn’t garner much attention, perhaps because people thought it wasn’t a permanent switch.

But a new post of the lines of American flags went viral, prompting a wave of criticism.

The flags “remind State Department employees who they work for,” Matthew Kroenig, a conservative senior fellow with The Atlantic Council, wrote in the post.

“It’s so much worse than ‘America First,’” said Aaron David Miller, who has worked at the State Department under several administrations.

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“It sends the extraordinary signal to the world that it’s America only.”

In response to the post’s criticism, Kroenig referenced a statement by Joe Biden’s Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, after the death of one of his predecessors, George Shultz.

Blinken said Shultz, who was the top diplomat during Ronald Reagan’s term, “took pains to remind his fellow diplomats that their first duty was always to the American people.”

A large banner featuring a US flag with a circle of 13 stars and the number 250 hangs in a modern building atrium, where multiple smaller US flags are displayed in the background. — The flags were first added in June for what people thought was the America 250 celebration Credit: Instagram/statedept

Exterior view of the United States Department of State building in Washington, D.C., with a sign in the foreground marking the 23rd Street Entrance. — Former State Department officials spoke out against the removal of international flags Credit: Getty

Former State Department officials who responded to Kroenig’s post were insulted that employees, especially those who died in service, would have their patriotism questioned.

“The more I think about this, the angrier I get. Next to those flags are the engraved names of fallen State Department officers,” said Richard M. Nephew, who worked under the Biden and Obama administrations.

“How dare you.”

“They are some of the most patriotic people I’ve ever met,” said Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia.

“No one I ever knew working there needed a ‘reminder.'”

The State Department’s chief public affairs officer, Dylan Johnson, defended the decision.

“In no other foreign ministry or state department in the world do they display the flags of hundreds of other countries in place of their own,” he wrote on social media.

“This is the United States Department of State — not the World Department of State.”

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