Raising the flags

Photo: Reidar Hahn, Fermilab

Raising the flags
Security officers raise and lower 20 flags in front of Fermilab's Wilson Hall every day. Each flag represents a country that researchers come from to work at the lab. "The problem is that there are twenty flag poles," says Fermilab's Roy Rubinstein. "Sometimes we have researchers from more, and sometimes we have researchers from less than twenty countries." Rubinstein says he was surprised that Fermilab happened to have a Czech flag in storage October 30, when Czech Republic Consulate staff visited the lab. Security officers ran the flag up one of the 20 poles just in time.

Although flags occasionally get replaced, the usual order is: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, France, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, People's Republic of China, Poland, Russian Federation, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. They are flown in alphabetical order. Nearby, flags representing the United States, the Department of Energy, and the State of Illinois are on permanent display.

Siri Steiner