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Clip Art
You have my permission to copy and
use these public domain flags in all respectful ways you wish,
but remove them to your own website or domain.
- Flag at Half Staff
-
- Click
here for larger graphic
-
- Static Waving Flag on Pole
- Animated Waving Flag
-
- Waving Flag, black background
-
- Bunting
-
- Flag In the Sky
-
- Flat Flag
-
- Hanging Flag
- 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.
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Flag
Display
United States
Code
TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC
SOCIETIES AND OBSERVANCES
CHAPTER 10 -
PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
White House Blog
Search on these terms to see if it is OK to fly the "flag at half-staff."
INDEX
ß 173: Display and use of flag by civilians;
codification of rules and customs; definition
ß 174: Time and occasions for display;
hoisting and lowering
ß 175: Position and manner of display
ß 176: Respect for flag
ß 177: Conduct during hoisting, lowering
or passing of flag
ß 178: Modification of rules and customs
by President
ß 173: 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 purposes
of this chapter shall be defined according to sections 1 and
2 of Title 4 and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto.
click here to return to the
Index
ß 174: Time and occasions for display;
hoisting and lowering
- It is the universal custom to display the flag only
from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flag staffs
in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the
flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated
during the hours of darkness.
- The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
- The flag should not be displayed on days when the
weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.
- The flag should be displayed on all days, especially
on:
- New Year's Day - (January 1)
- Inauguration Day - (January 20)
- 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} - (last Monday in May)
- Flag Day - (June 14)
- Independence Day - (July 4)
- Labor Day - (first Monday in September)
- Columbus Day - (second Monday in October)
- Navy Day - (October 27)
- Veterans Day - (November 11)
- Thanksgiving Day - (fourth Thursday in November)
- Christmas Day - (December 25)
- Other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United
States
- Birthdays of States (date of admission)
- State holidays
- The flag should be displayed daily on or near the
main administration building of every public institution.
- The flag should be displayed in or near every polling
place on election days.
- The flag should be displayed during school days
in or near every schoolhouse.
click here to return to the
Index
ß 175: 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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
internment 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 -
- 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;
- the term "executive or military department" means
any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5; and
- the term "Member of Congress" means a Senator,
a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner for
Puerto Rico.
-
- 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.
- 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.
click here to return to the
Index
ß 176: 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.
- 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.
- The flag should never touch anything beneath it,
such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
- The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally,
but always aloft and free.
- 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.
- 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.
- The flag should never be used as a covering for
a ceiling.
- 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.
- The flag should never be used as a receptacle for
receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
- 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 napkin 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.
- 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.
- 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.
click here to return to the
Index
ß 177: 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.
click here to return to the
Index
ß 178: 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 in section 171-178 of
this title, 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.
click here to return to the
Index
The complete source for the
US Code is at Cornell University's Law Resources Site:
UNITED STATES CODE
Other Flag Links
Flag
laws in the United States
A ruling from the US Supreme Court about banning flags
Flying earlier versions of the US flag
Using the flag for advertising
Executive Ordered 24 Hour Displays
Forbidden flags
Flag
Rules and Regulations
Independence Hall has an animated flag showing how to fold the
flag. It also illustrates what I have here on this page. You
can also order a flag on this site.
Flags of the
United States
An excellent collection of clip art of historic US flags and
flags of each state.
National Flag Day Foundation
Flag day is June 14th. Pledge of Allegiance.
North
Dakota Capitol Flag Display Example
An idea of how multiple flags can be displayed at the same time.
Stromberg
v. People of State of California
The appellant was convicted in the superior court of San Bernardino
county, California, for violation of [283 U.S. 359, 361] section
403a of the Penal Code of that State.
UC
Davis Flag Display Policy
Note: On grouped vertical staffs, the American flag shall be
on the marching right (observer's left), except that if one staff
is clearly higher than the others the American flag shall be
flown from it.
When to Fly the Flag at Half-Mast
There need be no authorization from the government for the private sector (non-government) to use the Flag to honor any citizen. Individual are not acting illegally when using the Flag according to their own usage. Only on government / public building is the flag code required to be followed.
How not to display
the American Flag
- Recently curb address numbers were painted on our streets.
One of the options was to have a flag painted in the gutter with
your street number. I was appalled! Note the street sweeper marks
across the flag! Who would show such disrespect for the American
Flag? Not a past candidate for mayor, surely!
-
- Another prominent citizen who thinks that the gutter is a
proper place for displaying the flag:
- (Via email to info@gomilpitas.com, Monday November 19, 2001.)
-
- I believe the flag proudly displayed by the house number
shows a great deal of patriotism, something surely lacking by
others.
- Althea Polanski
-
- Other letters to the Webmaster
regarding the issue of displaying the flag in the gutter.
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This half staff American flag widget will automatically display the American Flag at half staff on the days that it is appropriate to fly the flag at half staff. It will also give the reason why the flag is at half staff.
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