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Displaying the Flag
Previous to Flag Day, June 14, 1923 there were no federal or
state regulations governing display of the United States Flag.
It was on this date that the National Flag Code was adopted by
the National Flag Conference which was attended by
representatives of the Army and Navy which had evolved their own
procedures, and some 66 other national groups. This purpose of
providing guidance based on the Army and Navy procedures
relating to display and associated questions about the U.S. Flag
was adopted by all organizations in attendance.
A few minor changes were made a year later during the Flag Day
1924 Conference. It was not until June 22, 1942 that Congress
passed a joint resolution which was amended on December 22, 1942
to become Public Law 829; Chapter 806, 77th Congress, 2nd
session. Exact rules for use and display of the flag (36 U.S.C.
173-178) as well as associated sections (36 U.S.C. 171) Conduct
during Playing of the National Anthem, (36 U.S.C. 172) the
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, and Manner of Delivery were
included.
The code is the guide for all handling and display of the Stars
and Stripes. It does not impose penalties for misuse of the
United States Flag. That is left to the states and to the
federal government for the District of Columbia. Each state has
its own flag law.
Criminal penalties for certain acts of desecration to the flag
were contained in Title 18 of the United States Code prior to
1989. The Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson; June 21,
1989, held the statute unconstitutional. This statute was
amended when the Flag Protection Act of 1989 (Oct. 28, 1989)
imposed a fine and/or up to I year in prison for knowingly
mutilating, defacing, physically defiling, maintaining on the
floor or trampling upon any flag of the United States. The Flag
Protection Act of 1989 was struck down by the Supreme Court
decision, United States vs. Eichman, decided on June 11, 1990.
While the Code empowers the President of the United States to
alter, modify, repeal or prescribe additional rules regarding
the Flag, no federal agency has the authority to issue
'official' rulings legally binding on civilians or civilian
groups. Consequently, different interpretations of various
provisions of the Code may continue to be made. The Flag Code
may be fairly tested: 'No disrespect should be shown to the Flag
of the United States of America.' Therefore, actions not
specifically included in the Code may be deemed acceptable as
long as proper respect is shown.
The following information is taken from Title 4 - FLAG AND SEAL,
SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES - of the United States Code
Chapter 1 - THE FLAG - as provided on the Internet by the Legal
Information Institute at Cornell University School of Law.
Sec. 1. - Flag; stripes and stars on
The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal
stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag
shall be forty-eight stars, white in a blue field.
Sec. 2. - Same; additional stars
On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be
added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take
effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such
admission.
Sec. 3. - Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of
flag
Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner,
for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any
word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any
advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or
ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause
to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or
ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise
placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or
annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or
any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of
Columbia, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or to public
view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be
given away or for use for any purpose, any article or substance
being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise
or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise,
upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached, or
otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard,
colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to, decorate,
mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by
a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than
thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. The words
''flag, standard, colors, or ensign'', as used herein, shall
include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or
representation of either, or of any part or parts of either,
made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any
size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard,
colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture
or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the
colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either
thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average
person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same
to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United
States of America.
Sec. 4. - Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, I pledge allegiance to the
Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for
which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all., should be rendered by standing at
attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart.
When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their
right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over
the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the
flag, and render the military salute.
Sec. 5. - Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of
rules and customs; definition
The following codification of existing rules and customs
pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United
States of America is established for the use of such civilians
or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to
conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive
departments of the Government of the United States. The flag of
the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be
defined according to sections 1 and 2 of this title and
Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto
Sec. 6. - Time and occasions for display
(a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from
sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in
the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag
may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during
the hours of darkness.
(b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered
ceremoniously.
(c) The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is
inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.
(d) The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New
Year's Day, January 1; Inauguration Day, January 20; Martin
Luther King Jr.'s birthday, third Monday in January; Lincoln's
Birthday, February 12; Washington's Birthday, third Monday in
February; Easter Sunday (variable); Mother's Day, second Sunday
in May; Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May; Memorial Day
(half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May; Flag Day, June
14; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day, first Monday in
September; Constitution Day, September 17; Columbus Day, second
Monday in October; Navy Day, October 27; Veterans Day, November
11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November; Christmas
Day, December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed by
the President of the United States; the birthdays of States
(date of admission); and on State holidays.
(e) The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main
administration building of every public institution.
(f) The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place
on election days.
(g) The flag should be displayed during school days in or near
every schoolhouse.
Sec. 7. - Position and manner of display
The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or
flags, should be either on the marching right; that is, the
flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in
front of the center of that line.
(a) The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade
except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (i) of this
section.
(b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or
back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat. When the
flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed firmly
to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on
the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of
America, except during church services conducted by naval
chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the
flag during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No
person shall display the flag of the United Nations or any other
national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of
superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the
United States at any place within the United States or any
Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That nothing in this
section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice
heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations
in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other
national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with
that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the
United Nations.
(d) The flag of the United States of America, when it is
displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs,
should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff
should be in front of the staff of the other flag.
(e) The flag of the United States of America should be at the
center and at the highest point of the group when a number of
flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are
grouped and displayed from staffs.
(f) When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of
societies are flown on the same halyard with the flag of the
United States, the latter should always be at the peak. When the
flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United
States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or
pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to
the United States flag's right.
(g) When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to
be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags
should be of approximately equal size. International usage
forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of
another nation in time of peace.
(h) When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff
projecting horizontally or at an angle from the window sill,
balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag should be
placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at
half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a
rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the
sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the
building.
(i) When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a
wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right,
that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the
flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue
field to the left of the observer in the street.
(j) When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it
should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an
east and west street or to the east in a north and south street.
(k) When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed
flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When
displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the
flag of the United States of America should hold the position of
superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the
position of honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he
faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed
on the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the
audience.
(l) The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony
of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never be used
as the covering for the statue or monument.
(m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted
to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff
position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it
is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be
displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top
of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown
at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United
States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or
possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event
of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag
is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential
instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs
or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the
death of a present or former official of the government of any
State, territory, or possession of the United States, the
Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim
that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag
shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the
President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death
of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief
Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of
Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an
executive or military department, a former Vice President, or
the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the
day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The
flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial
Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this
subsection -
(1) The term ''half-staff'' means the position of the flag when
it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the
staff;
(2) The term ''executive or military department'' means any
agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United
States Code; and
(3) The term ''Member of Congress'' means a Senator, a
Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from
Puerto Rico.
(n) When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so
placed that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder.
The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to
touch the ground.
(o) When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a
building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended
vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left
upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance,
the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the
corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances
are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to
the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two
directions, the union should be to the east.
Sec. 8. - Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States
of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or
thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or
institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down,
except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme
danger to life or property.
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the
ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but
always aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding,
or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in
folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white,
and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the
middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a
speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for
decoration in general.
(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or
stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn,
soiled, or damaged in any way.
(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part
of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word,
figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving,
holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in
any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such
articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or
otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that
is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs
should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag
is flown.
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or
athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the
uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members
of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country
and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel
flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near
the heart.
(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer
a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified
way, preferably by burning.
Sec. 9. - Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag
During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the
flag is passing in a parade or in review, all persons present
except those in uniform should face the flag and stand at
attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in
uniform should render the military salute. When not in uniform,
men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold
it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Aliens
should stand at attention. The salute to the flag in a moving
column should be rendered at the moment the flag passes.
Sec. 10. - Modification of rules and customs by President
Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the
United States of America, set forth herein, may be altered,
modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect thereto
may be prescribed, by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or
desirable; and any such alteration or additional rule shall be
set forth in a proclamation. |
