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UNITED STATES CODE
(Display of U.S. flag)
Title 36, Chapter 10
PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
Sec. 174. Time and occasions for display
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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 twenty-four hours a day if properly
illuminated during the hours of darkness.
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The flag should be
hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
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The flag should not be
displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather
flag is displayed.
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The flag should be
displayed on all days, especially on New Year's Day, January 1; Inauguration
Day, January 20; 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; 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.
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The flag should be
displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public
institution.
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The flag should be
displayed in or near every polling place on election days.
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The flag should be
displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.
Sec. 175. 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 the pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union
first, from the building.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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 Sates 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 officials 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 thirty days from the death of the President or a former President;
ten 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,
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. As
used in this subsection--
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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;
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the term "executive or
military department" means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of
title 5, United States Code; and
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The term "Member of
Congress" means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident
Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
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When the flag is used to
cover a casket, it should be 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.
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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.
Note Regarding Disposition
of the U.S. Flag
- Although not a part of the Flag Code, the VFW advises worn or torn flags
should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning. Individuals
should take responsibility for destroying the worn flag in their possession and
burying the ashes.
This
information supplied by the US Air Force Association
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