United States Flag Code
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; P.L. 80, 106th Congress, First Session, October 25, 1999; P.L.
110-41, 110th Congress, First Session, June 29, 2007; P.L. 110-181, 110th Congress, Second
Session, January 28, 2008; P.L. 110-239, 110th Congress, Second Session, June 3, 2008, P.L.
110-417, 110th Congress, Second Session, October 14, 2008; P.L. 111-41, 111th Congress, First
Session, July 27, 2009; P.L. 113-66 113th Congress, First Session, December 26, 2013; and P.L
115-305 115th Congress, Second Session, March 28, 2017.
§ 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 any non-religious 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. Members of the Armed Forces
not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in
uniform.
§ 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 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.
(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; National
Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29, 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; Father’s Day, third Sunday in June; Independence Day, July
4; National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, July 27; 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 death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State,
territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, or the death of a first responder
working in any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving in the line of duty, the
Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown
at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with
respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia, members of the Armed Forces
from the District of Columbia, and first responders working in the District of Columbia. When
the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, or the Mayor of the District of Columbia, issues
a proclamation under the preceding sentence that the National flag be flown at half-staff in that
State, territory, or possession or in the District of Columbia because of the death of a member of
the Armed Forces, the National flag flown at any Federal installation or facility in the area
covered by that proclamation shall be flown at half-staff consistent with that proclamation. 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; and
(4) the term “first responder” means a “public safety officer” as defined in section 1204 of title I
of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284).
(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 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.
(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. (Disposal of Unserviceable Flags
Ceremony)
§ 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, those present in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces
and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render the military salute. All other persons
present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over the heart, or if
applicable, remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand
being over the heart. Citizens of other countries should stand at attention. All such conduct
toward 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.
Executive Order No. 10834 issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on August 24, 1959,
amended the provisions of Title 4, U.S.C., Chapter 1 and established the 50 star Flag as the
official Flag of the United States, effective on July 4, 1960.
The Flag Code – Modification of rules and customs by President
Executive Order No. 10834
August 24, 1959
Part I – Design of the flag
Section 1. The flag of the United States shall have thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and
white, and a union consisting of white stars on a field of blue.
Section 2. The position of the stars in the union of the flag and in the union jack shall be as
indicated on the attachment to this order, which is hereby made a part of this order.
Section 3. The dimensions of the constituent parts of the flag shall conform to the proportions set
forth in the attachment referred to in section 2 of this order.
Standard Proportions of the Flag
hoist(width) of flag – 1.0
fly (length) of flag – 1.9
hoist of union- 7/13
fly of union- .76
diameter of star – .0616
width of stripe – 1/13
Title 36, Subtitle I, Part A section 301 United States Code – National Anthem
(a) Designation.— The composition consisting of the words and music known as the Star
Spangled Banner is the national anthem.
(b) Conduct During Playing.— During a rendition of the national anthem—
• (1) when the flag is displayed—
(A) individuals in uniform should give the military salute at the first note of the anthem and
maintain that position until the last note;
(B) members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are present but not in uniform may render
the military salute in the manner provided for individuals in uniform; and
(C) all other persons present should face the flag and stand at attention with their right hand over
the heart, and men not in uniform, if applicable, should remove their headdress with their right
hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart; and
• (2) when the flag is not displayed, all present should face toward the music and act in the
same manner they would if the flag were displayed.