The president-elect was joined by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and a bipartisan group of congressional leaders at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C.
The flags represent people from all 50 states, the five U.S. territories and Washington, D.C., who cannot attend because of the coronavirus pandemic and tight security in the nation's capital.
President Trump was impeached for inciting his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol. The violence and its aftermath will be an enduring symbol of his four years in the White House.
When President Trump left Washington aboard Air Force One, he only had a few hours left in office. At noon, he will again be a private citizen when President-elect Joe Biden takes the oath of office.
NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to members of the NPR politics team — Tamara Keith, Ron Elving, Scott Detrow and Franco Ordoñez — about Trump's departure, which caps a tumultuous four years in office.
Members of the Trump administration won't have to wait five years before lobbying the agencies where they worked. Trump had been highly critical of former President Clinton for a similar reversal.
Precisely at noon, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the nation's 46th president. Chief Justice Roberts will lead Biden through the oath of office. Security concerns and the pandemic have altered events.