Use the standar lifecycle callbacks from Activities
In the OnCreate method of your activity try to read the state
public void onCreate(Bundle icicle) {
if (data!=null)
{
ActionBar actionBar = getSupportActionBar();
int state = data.getInt("status");
if (state==1)
actionBar.setIcon(R.drawable.icon_a);
else
actionBar.setIcon(R.drawable.icon_b);
}
}
And save the state to recovery it later
protected void onSaveInstanceState(Bundle data) {
super.onSaveInstanceState(data);
data.putInt(icon_state);
}