flag day

The Flag of the United States of America was born almost a year after the Declaration of Independence. The Stars and Stripes to which we pledge allegiance was authorized on June 14, 1777.  Just as we celebrate the birth of independence on July 4th each year, the people of our Nation celebrate the birth of our Flag every year on June 14th. in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson (pictured above) issued a Presidential proclamation making June 14th a day of honoring our flag and celebrating its birth. However it wasn't until 1949 that the United States Congress took formal action on the matter of Flag Day. On August 3, 1949 President Harry S Truman signed their resolution "That the 14th day of June in each year is hereby designated as Flag Day." Today it is the right of every American to proudly display the flag that speaks of our freedom.  But with every RIGHT comes some RESPONSIBILITY as well...including the responsibility to display the flag properly and with respect.

So fly that flag proud today and while you are at it pour out some of your 40 for old Woody Wilson, because he invented this fine holiday. A holiday that has been overlooked for far too long. Why is it we go to our cabins and get drunk in the woods in the name of freedom on Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor day but hardly life a High Life tall boy on flag day? This is a true injustice. We don't care about our banner of liberty? Year after year we continue to neglect the wonderful stitchwork of Betsy Ross. The very stitching that has held this wonderful country together for over 50 years. As we continue to branch out and shove liberty and freedom down the throats of the nations of lesser intelligence I implore you to stop and take a moment out of your fossil fueled day and think about our old star spangled banner and all those bombs bursting in air. May they continue to give proof through the night and may our flag always be there!

Below you will find the guidelines to flying your banner of liberty. Read them all... unless you hate freedom.

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.

(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 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 halfstaff 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)-(11), 90 Stat. 810, 811; Sept. 13, 1994, Pub. L. 103-322, title XXXII, Sec. 320922(b), 108 Stat. 2131.