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The Flag Code Title 4, United States Code, Chapter 1

/ Owner - June 8, 2023

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, or the death of a member of the
Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on
active duty the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the
National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the
Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the
District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of
Columbia.

? When the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, or the Mayor of the District of
Columbia, issues a proclamation under the preceding sentence that the National flag
be flown at half-staff in that State, territory, or possession or in the District of
Columbia because of the death of a member of the armed forces, the National flag
flown at any Federal installation or facility in the area covered by that proclamation
shall be flown at half-staff consistent with that proclamation.

? 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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