The U.S. Flag Code in plain English

What the Flag Code is

The Flag Code is the name for 4 U.S.C. §§ 5-10. Section 5 calls it a "codification of existing rules and customs" and says it is for civilians and civilian groups who are not bound by the regulations of an executive department. It is mostly written as "should", not "shall": it states the proper way to treat the flag but sets no penalty of its own. The flag's design (stripes, stars and proportions) is set separately in 4 U.S.C. §§ 1 and 2 and in Executive Order 10834.

Under § 10 the President, as Commander in Chief, may alter or repeal any rule or custom in the Code, or add new ones, by proclamation. That is how presidential half-staff orders fit in: they are proclamations under this authority and under § 7(m).

The Code is advice about conduct, not a criminal law. The Supreme Court has held that burning the flag as a political protest is protected speech (Texas v. Johnson, 1989). Federal law also bars condominium, cooperative and residential associations from stopping a member from displaying the flag at home (the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, noted under § 5), subject to reasonable time, place and manner rules.

When and how to display it (§ 6)

• Hours. "It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open." When a patriotic effect is desired it may be flown 24 hours a day if properly illuminated in the dark.
• Hoisting. "The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously."
• Weather. It should not be displayed on days of inclement weather, unless it is an all-weather flag.
• Which days. The flag should be displayed on all days, especially the ones § 6(d) lists: New Year's Day, Inauguration Day, Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, Washington's Birthday, National Vietnam War Veterans Day (March 29), Easter Sunday, Mother's Day, Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), Flag Day (June 14), Father's Day, Independence Day, National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (July 27), Labor Day, Constitution Day (September 17), Columbus Day, Navy Day (October 27), Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, plus other days the President proclaims, the birthdays of States (the date of admission) and State holidays.
• Where. It should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution, in or near every polling place on election days, and during school days in or near every schoolhouse.

Half-staff: how to lower and raise the flag (§ 7(m))

The technique is stated in the statute's own words:

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.

"Half-staff" means the flag is "one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff." It is not a fixed number of inches below the top, and on a short pole it is simply the middle.

Who orders it. The statute says that "by order of the President" the flag is 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. For other officials and foreign dignitaries it is flown at half-staff according to the President's instructions or orders, or recognized customs not inconsistent with law. A Governor (and the Mayor of the District of Columbia) may proclaim half-staff for the death of a present or former official of that State, a service member from that State who dies on active duty, or a first responder who dies in the line of duty. When a Governor does so for a service member, the flag at any federal installation in the area must follow that proclamation.

How long. By § 7(m), the flag is 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, or the Speaker of the House;
• from the day of death until interment for an Associate Justice, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory or possession;
• on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress.

Standing days. "On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff." The flag is also flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), "unless that day is also Armed Forces Day." Other days, such as Patriot Day (September 11) and National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7), come from separate laws in Title 36 that ask the President to proclaim half-staff each year. See the next standing days on the Flag Today page.

A flag on a staff that projects from a building, § 7(h) adds, should have its union (the blue field) at the peak of the staff "unless the flag is at half-staff."

Position and manner of display (§ 7)

Paraphrased, the rest of § 7 says:

• In a procession, the flag goes on the marching right, or in front of the center of a line of flags (the opening paragraph).
• On a parade float it is displayed from a staff; it is not draped over the hood, top, sides or back of a vehicle, train or boat. On a motorcar the staff is fixed to the chassis or clamped to the right fender ((a), (b)).
• No other flag or pennant goes above the U.S. flag or, on the same level, to its right. The one exception is the church pennant at Navy chaplains' services at sea. No one may display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or international flag equal to, above or in place of the U.S. flag within the United States ((c)).
• Crossed staffs: the U.S. flag is on its own right, with its staff in front. A group of State, local or society flags: the U.S. flag is at the center and the highest point. On one halyard it is at the peak; on adjacent staffs it is hoisted first and lowered last ((d), (e), (f)).
• Flags of two or more nations fly from separate staffs of the same height, at about the same size. International usage forbids flying one nation's flag above another's in time of peace ((g)).
• Against a wall, horizontally or vertically, the union is uppermost and to the flag's own right, which is the observer's left. In a window it is the same, with the blue field to the left of an observer in the street ((i)).
• Over the middle of a street it hangs vertically, union to the north on an east-west street and to the east on a north-south street ((j)). Across a corridor or lobby it hangs vertically, with the union to the observer's left on entering a building with one main entrance ((o)).
• On a speaker's platform, a flat flag is above and behind the speaker; a staff flag stands at the speaker's right as he or she faces the audience ((k)).
• At the unveiling of a statue or monument the flag is a distinctive feature, but it is never used as the covering ((l)).
• On a casket, the union is at the head and over the left shoulder, and the flag is not lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground ((n)).

Conduct during the flag's raising, lowering and passing (§ 9)

When the flag is hoisted or lowered, or passes in a parade or in review, persons in uniform should render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces and veterans not in uniform may salute. Everyone else should face the flag and stand at attention with the right hand over the heart, or, if applicable, remove any headdress with the right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand over the heart. Citizens of other countries should stand at attention. In a moving column, this is done at the moment the flag passes. (The Pledge of Allegiance and its manner of delivery are in 4 U.S.C. § 4.)

Respect for the flag (§ 8)

"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 flags are dipped as a mark of honor.) Section 8 then lists what should never be done. In summary, 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";
• touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water or merchandise;
• be carried flat or horizontally, rather than aloft and free;
• be used as wearing apparel, bedding or drapery, or be festooned or drawn back in folds. Blue, white and red bunting, with the blue above, is for decoration;
• be fastened, displayed, used or stored so that it is easily torn, soiled or damaged;
• be used as a ceiling covering;
• have any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture or drawing placed on it or attached to it;
• be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying or delivering anything;
• be used for advertising, or embroidered or printed on things meant for temporary use and discard such as paper napkins; advertising signs should not be fastened to a flag's staff or halyard;
• be used as a costume or athletic uniform. A flag patch may be worn on the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen and members of patriotic organizations, and a lapel pin, being a replica, "should be worn on the left lapel near the heart."

Retiring a worn flag

The Code's only instruction is in § 8(k): a flag "in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning." Notice the words "preferably" and "dignified": the Code names no ceremony and no required steps. Veterans' organizations and scout troops commonly hold retirement ceremonies, and many will take a worn flag for you.

Folding the flag: custom, not code

Nothing in 4 U.S.C. §§ 5-10 tells you how to fold the flag. The familiar triangular fold, in which the flag is folded into a compact shape with only the blue field of stars showing, is a custom. It is best known from military funerals, flag-presentation ceremonies and flag retirements. The Code's only words on the subject of a funeral are those in § 7(n) about the flag on a casket, described above. The meanings often attached to each fold are traditions that circulate widely, but they are not found in the statute or in any official rule.

State orders

Governors also order flags lowered in their states, as § 7(m) allows. Those orders apply to the flag within the State (and, for service members, to federal facilities there) and are not listed on 4Conservative. Your governor's office publishes them.

Sources: U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1 (Government Publishing Office), 4 U.S.C. §§ 5-10 (Legal Information Institute), Public Law 105-225 (Title 36 revision, 1998). Updated November 8, 2026. Sentences in quotation marks are the statute's exact words; the rest is plain-English paraphrase. This page is general information, not legal advice.