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U.S. Flag Code -- TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES AND
OBSERVANCES CHAPTER 10 - PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
Sec. 175. Position and manner of display
-STATUTE-
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.
0) 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 Rat, 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.
(1) 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. 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; 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.
-SOURCE-
(June 22, 1942, ch. 435, Sec. 3, 56 Stat. 378; Dec. 22,
1942, ch. 806, Sec. 3, 56 Stat@ 1075; July 9, 1953, ch. 183, 67 Stat.
142; July 7, 1976, Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. 1(6)-(ll ), 90 Stat. 810, 81 1;
Sept. 13,1994, Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXII, Sec.
320922(b), 108 Stat. 2131.)
-misc1-
AMENDMENTS
1994 - Subsec. (m). Pub. L. 103-322 inserted before last
sentence "The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers
Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day."
1976 - Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. 1(6),
substituted "right fender" for "radiator cap".
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. 1(7), substituted "to
the United States flag's right" for "to the right of the flag of the
United States".
Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. 1(8). substituted
requirement that when the flag is displayed horizontally or vertically
against a wall or in a window, the union should be uppermost and to the
flag's own right for requirement that when the flag is displayed
otherwise than from a staff, it should be displayed flat, whether
indoors or out, or so suspended that it falls as free as though it were
staffed.
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. 1(9), struck out
provisions relating to flag position when displayed on a staff in the
chancel of a church or speaker's platform of an auditorium.
Subsec- (m). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec. I (IO), inserted
provisions relating to half-staff display of the flag on Memorial Day
and upon the death of principal figures of the United States government
and State governments and definitions of terms therein and struck out
provisions relating to the affixing of crepe streamers to spearheads and
flagstaffs in a parade only on the order of the President.
Subsec. (o). Pub. L. 94-344, Sec- 1 (I 1), added subsec.
(o).
1953 - Subsec. (c). Act July 9. 1953, inserted second
sentence.
1942 - Subsecs. (i) and (m). Act Dec. 22, 1942, inserted
"or so suspended that its folds fall as free as though the flag were
staffed" to subsec. (i) and omitted therefrom provisions covering
display against a wall or in a window, and substituted "lowering" for
"hauling" in third sentence of subsec. (m).
FLAG HOUSE SQUARE, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND; DISPLAY OF
REPLICA OF FLAG USED IN WAR OF 1812; TIME
Display of replica of flag used in War of 1812 for twenty-four hours
each day in Flag House Square, Baltimore, Maryland, as subject to this
section, see note set out under section 174 of this title.
-EXEC-
PROC. NO. 3044. DISPLAY OF FLAG AT HALF-STAFF UPON DEATH OF CERTAIN
OFFICIALS AND FORMER OFFICIALS
Proc. No. 3044, Mar. 1, 1954, 19 F. R. 1235, as amended by Proc. No.
3948, Dec. 12, 1969, 34 F.R. 19699, provided:
WHEREAS it is appropriate that the flag of the United States of
America be flown at half-staff on Federal buildings, grounds, and
facilities upon the death of principal officials and former officials of
the Government of the United States and the Governors of the States,
Territories, and possessions of the United States as a mark of respect
to their memory; and
WHEREAS it is desirable that rules be prescribed for the uniform
observance of this mark of respect by all executive departments and
agencies of the Government, and as a guide to the people of the Nation
generally on such occasions:
NOW, THEREFORE, 1. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER,
President of the United States of America and Commander in Chief of the
armed forces of the United States, do hereby prescribe and proclaim the
following rules with respect to the display of the flag of the United
States of America at half-staff upon the death of the officials
hereinafter designated:
1. The flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all
buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the
District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its
Territories and possessions for the period indicated upon the death of
any of the following-designated officials or former officials of the
United States:
(a) The President or a former President: for thirty days from the
day of death. The flag shall also be flown at half-staff
for such period at all United States embassies, legations, and other
facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels
and stations.
(b) The Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief
Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of
Representatives: for ten days from the day of death.
(c) An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a member of the
Cabinet, a former Vice President, the President pro tempore of the
Senate, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the
Senate, the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, or the
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives: from the day of death
until interment.
2. The flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all
buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the
metropolitan area of the District of Columbia on the day of death and on
the following day upon the death of a United States Senator,
Representative, Territorial Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from
the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and it shall also be flown at
half-staff on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal
Government in the State, Congressional District, Territory, or
Commonwealth of such Senator, Representative, Delegate, or Commissioner.
respectively, from the day of death until interment.
3. The flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff on all
buildings and grounds of the Federal Government in a State, Territory,
or possession of the United States upon the death of the Governor of
such State, Territory, or possession from the day of death until
interment.
4. In the event of the death of other officials, former officials, or
foreign dignitaries, the flag of the United States shall be displayed at
half-staff in accordance with such orders or instructions as may be
issued by or at the direction of the President, or in accordance with
recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.
5. The heads of the several departments and agencies of the
Government may direct that the flag of the United States be flown at
half-staff on buildings, grounds, or naval vessels under their
jurisdiction on occasions other than those specified herein which they
consider proper, and that suitable military honors be rendered as
appropriate.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal
of the United States of America to be affixed.
DONE at the City of Washington this 1st day of March in
the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and fifty-four, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and
seventy-eighth.
(seal)
Dwight D. Eisenhower.
-SECREF-
SECTION REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This section is referred to in sections 167, 178 of this
title. |
