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United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1
§ 1—Flag; stripes and stars on
The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate
red and white; and the union of the flag shall be forty-eight stars, white in
a blue field.
§ 2—Same;additional stars
On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the
union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of
July then next succeeding such admission.
§ 3—Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag
Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner, for
exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, figure,
mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature upon any
flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall
expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors,
or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed,
or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word,
figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any
nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture, sell,
expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for
sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or
substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or
article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall
have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation of
any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to,
decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in
the discretion of the court. The words “flag, standard, colors, or ensign”,
as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any
picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made
of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently
purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the
United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon
which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of
either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average
person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent
the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America.
§ 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,
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 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.
§ 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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