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American
Legion Post 136 - Mulvane, KS Birthplace of the Patriot Guard Page last updated: July 22, 2008 01:27:06 PM |
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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.
