Flag Etiquette
The National Flag represents the living country and is
considered to be a living thing emblematic of the respect and pride we have for
our nation. Display it proudly.
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 36
CHAPTER 10
PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
§ 170. National anthem; Star-Spangled Banner.
§ 171. Conduct during playing.
§ 172. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery.
§ 173. Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of
rules and customs; definition.
§ 174. Time and occasions for display.
§ 175. Position and manner of display.
§ 176. Respect for flag.
§ 177. Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag.
§ 178. Modification of rules and customs by President.
§ 179. Design for service flag; persons entitled to display
flag.
§ 180. Design for service lapel button; persons entitled to
wear button.
§ 181. Approval of designs by Secretary of Defense; license
tomanufacture and sell; penalties.
§ 182. Rules and regulations.
§ 182a to 184. Repealed.
§ 185. Transferred.
§ 186. National motto.
§ 187. National floral emblem.
§ 188. National march.
§ 189. Recognition of National League of Families POW/MIA
flag.
§170. National anthem; Star-Spangled Banner
The composition consisting of the words and music known as
The Star-Spangled Banner is
designated the national anthem of the United States of
America.
§171. Conduct during playing
During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is
displayed, all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing
the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men not in uniform 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 render the military salute
at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note.
When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and
act in the same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.
§172. 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.
§173. 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 title 4 and Executive Order 10834 issued
pursuant thereto.
§174. Time and occasions for display
(a) Display on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in open;
night display
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.
(b) Manner of hoisting
The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered
ceremoniously.
(c) Inclement weather
The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is
inclement, except when an all
weather flag is displayed.
(d) Particular days of display
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; 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) Display on or near administration building of public
institutions
The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main
administration building of every public
institution.
(f) Display in or near polling places
The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place
on election days.
(g) Display in or near schoolhouses
The flag should be displayed during school days in or near
every schoolhouse.
§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.
(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 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, 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. 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; 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.
§176. 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.
§177. 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.
§178. 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.
§179. Design for service flag; persons entitled to display
flag
The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to
approve a design for a service flag, which flag may be displayed in a window of
the place of residence of persons who are members of the immediate family of a
person serving in the armed forces of the United States during any period of
war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the United States may be
engaged. | 
