U.S. Embassies Defy Trump, Continue to Display Rainbow Flag

A number of U.S. embassies around the world continue to display the Rainbow Flag despite a Trump Administration edict that it cannot fly.

U.S. diplomats in South Korea, China and Nepal have all continued their public displays of the Rainbow Flag to celebrate Pride month around the world.

"Today, along with the U.S. Mission in Nepal community, I join people around the world in celebrating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, & Intersex #PrideMonth, and and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to defending human rights for all," tweeted Randy Berry, the U.S. ambassador to Nepal, along with a picture showing the flag on a wall in the background.

The displays come despite reports the Trump administration explicitly denied requests to fly the Rainbow Flag on flagpoles at embassies, according to a report from NBC News.

Notably, the flag displays may be getting around the order rather than violating it.

Brian Bulatao, undersecretary for management at the State Department, said flags could not be on poles, but could be displayed on walls. In Nepal and China, photo and video released by embassies appears to show the flag prominently displayed on the outside of buildings.

In the case of the flag at Chennai, China, there's flag draping down three stories of the embassy building.

A flag flies horizontally across a story of the Seoul, South Korea embassy. In that case, the Rainbow Flag is substantially larger than the American flag at the pole nearby, and it's displayed at the same height.

Notably, Germany was among the U.S. embassies where a request to fly the flag was denied. Richard Grenell, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, remains the highest ranking out member of Trump's administration.

Grenell said in a statement to NBC that the embassy in Berlin will take a similar approach to others and hang a flag prominently on the outside of the building.

"The President's recognition of Pride Month and his tweet encouraging our decriminalization campaign gives me even more pride to once again march in the Berlin Pride parade, hang a huge banner on the side of the Embassy recognizing our pride, host multiple events at the Embassy and the residence, and fly the gay pride flag," Grenell said in a statement to NBC News.

The practice of flying flags at U.S. embassies was the norm during the Obama administration.