Did You Know About These 13 Rules For Displaying The American Flag?

One thing is for sure, America doesn’t lack patriotic holidays at all. Whether it’s Memorial Day, Independence Day, or any other holiday, we surely take the time to celebrate.

And what better way of celebration, than to display the American flag? If you didn’t notice so far (but it’s hard to believe), there’s no shortage of American flags on display. Even so, this important emblem of American ideals comes with strict decorum.

In 1923, a group of organizations headed by the American Legion made a set of rules called the National Flag Code, and there are some interesting stipulations in it.

For example, per the code, the flag is to be considered a living thing. If you’re more curious about it, here are some lesser-known rules for displaying the flag.

• You can fly the flag upside down – You can fly your flag upside down only if you want to display a signal of distress in situations of extreme danger to your life or property.
• No flag can be more prominent than the American flag(with two exceptions) – No other flag should be on top of the American flag, except the U.N. flag (but only at the U.N. headquarters in New York), and a church’s pennant.
• You can fly multiple country flags, but the old glory stays in the spotlight – On American territory, the American flag should always be placed in a position of honor.
• There are other flags that get similar treatment – If you group the American flags with other flags, the U.S. one should always be at the highest point.
• You can put the flag on your vehicle, but only in a certain way – The flag should never be draped over any sort of means of transportation (car, motorcycle, train, boat, subway), but you can fix it on a pole to the chassis or clamp it on the right fender.
• Never lay your flag on a parade float – You should always fly the flag vertically from a securely fastened staff if you want to fly it on a float.
• If it’s made of nylon, you can fly the flag all year round – The rule of “not displaying the American flag on days when the weather is inclement” has an exception: if the flag is made for all kinds of weather.
• You have to watch out and put the union side right if you hang it from a window – The union portion of the flag should be the uppermost part and to the flag’s own right, which means to the observer’s left.
• Fly your flag in the dark as much as you want – If you want to add a more patriotic effect to the displaying of the American flag, you can let it soar at all hours of the day and night.
• You need to be geographically inclined with your street flag – When a city wants to fly the flag over the middle of the street, it has to respect some rules. The flag needs to be suspended vertically with the union side pointing north on an east/west street, or to the east on a north/south street.
• Are you missing some stars on your flag? Don’t worry – If you have a flag with only 48 stars, you shouldn’t be worried to display it.
• Don’t forget to display it during particular days – You should definitely display your flag on New Year’s Day, Inauguration Day, Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, Lincoln’s birthday, National Vietnam War Veterans Day, Easter, Constitution Day, Labor Day, and the list goeeeees on.
• Not so sure about displaying your flag in an apartment building, tho – Although you get protection to display your flag from the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, the protection you’d receive is not complete.

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