U.S. Code: The Flag of the U.S.A.
The United States Code is the codification by subject matter of the general and
permanent laws of the United States. It is divided by broad subjects into 50
titles and published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House
of Representatives.
If you are interested in more information about the flag, e.g. when to display, etc., or everything else the United States Code constitutes, visit the Link below to the official U.S. Code Edition.
TITLE 4--FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES
CHAPTER 1--THE FLAG
Sec. 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.
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