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The Flag
Code
Title 4, United States
Code, Chapter 1
As Adopted by the
National Flag Conference, Washington, D.C., June 14-15, 1923, and
Revised and Endorsed by the Second National Flag Conference,
Washington, D.C., May 15, 1924. Revised and adopted at P.L. 623,
77th Congress, Second Session, June 22, 1942; as Amended by P.L.
829, 77th Congress, Second Session, December 22, 1942; P.L. 107 83rd
Congress, 1st Session, July 9, 1953; P.L. 396, 83rd Congress, Second
Session, June 14, 1954; P.L. 363, 90th Congress, Second Session,
June 28, 1968; P.L. 344, 94th Congress, Second Session, July 7,
1976; P.L. 322, 103rd Congress, Second Session, September 13, 1994;
P.L. 225, 105th Congress, Second Session, August 12, 1998; and P.L.
80, 106th Congress, First Session, October 25, 1999.
§ 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.
§ 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.
§ 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, the 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.
§ 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.
§ 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.
§ 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 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.
§ 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.
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