International Flags Display

When national flags of more than one country are hung together, the display must follow a prescribed order of precedence (e.g. ordering principle, such as alphabetical) such that no one country's flag is prioritized above another. In addition, if flags from different government levels or country types are hung together, there should be distinct groupings of each type, each following a consistent order of precedence. Flag etiquette is fairly consistent across national borders, and this reliability helps to avoid offense.

Because Pepperdine is not a governmental or diplomatic entity, it is not in a position to decide nationhood. For this reason, Pepperdine must rely on authoritative external sources, such as the United Nations and the US government, regarding official nations.

The flag display is adjusted annually based upon the citizenship of our current students and where they obtain their visas to study in the US. Because the composition of the student body changes every year, we change the flags annually, after enrollment information from the incoming class becomes available and final.

Although information about passport country and citizenship becomes finalized around November, the flags are rehung annually by mid-January to coincide with the Global Learning Week.