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Sec. 1. - Flag; stripes and stars on
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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. |
| Sec. 2. - Same; additional stars
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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. |
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Sec. 3. - Use of flag for advertising
purposes; mutilation of flag
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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. |
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Sec. 4. - Pledge of allegiance to the flag;
manner of delivery
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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. |
| Sec. 5. - Display and use of flag by civilians;
codification of rules and customs; definition |
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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 |
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Sec. 6. - Time and occasions for display
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(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.
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Sec. 7. - Position and manner of
display
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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 clampedthe 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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| Sec. 8. - Respect for flag |
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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.
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Sec. 9. - Conduct during hoisting,
lowering or passing of flag
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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. |
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Sec. 10. - Modification of rules and
customs by President
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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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