Flag Etiquette: U.S. Flag Code Rules for Homes and Businesses

We’ve sold flags from the shop on NW Nela Street since the mid-1970s, and the same handful of questions come across the counter every year. Where does the blue go when it hangs in a window? Can the Oregon flag fly at the same height? What do I do with the old one?

The answers are all in the United States Flag Code, Title 4 of the U.S. Code. It describes customs for civilians rather than setting penalties, and it’s shorter and plainer than most people expect. Here are the rules that matter at a home or a business, with the section to look up if you want the exact words.

When to fly the flag

Section 6 sets the hours. “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.” In practice: take it down at dusk, or light it.

The same section says to hoist the flag briskly and lower it ceremoniously, and not to fly it in inclement weather “except when an all weather flag is displayed.”

Hanging the flag on a wall or in a window

Section 7(i) covers walls and windows: “the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left.” That holds whether the flag hangs horizontally or vertically. In a window, it’s the observer in the street who should see the union on their left.

For a flag on a short staff projecting from a porch post, balcony or the front of a building, Section 7(h) puts the union at the peak of the staff, unless the flag is at half-staff.

Flying the U.S. and Oregon flags together

Section 7(f) handles state and city flags. On the same halyard, the U.S. flag always goes at the peak. On adjacent staffs, the U.S. flag is hoisted first and lowered last, and no other flag goes above it or to its right. Section 7(c) adds that no other flag should be placed above it or, “if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States.”

So the Oregon flag can fly at the same height on its own pole, as long as it’s on the U.S. flag’s left, which is your right as you face the poles. Oregon’s flag has its own story, and two different sides; we wrote about it in the Oregon state flag’s history.

Half-staff

Section 7(m) gives the routine: “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 flies at half-staff until noon only, then goes to the top of the staff.

Weather, wear and care

Section 8 is the respect section, and several of its lines are really care instructions. The flag “should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise,” and it shouldn’t be “fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.”

In Portland that mostly means wind and rain. Bring a flag in before a storm unless it’s made for all weather, check the fly end for fraying, and replace it before it looks tired. Section 8 also rules out using the flag as drapery or bunting; for decorating a porch or a stage, it calls for red, white and blue bunting “arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below.”

How to retire a worn flag

Section 8(k) is one sentence: “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.”

1. Decide it’s timeFaded, frayed or torn so it’s no longer a fitting emblem. Small frays can sometimes be trimmed and hemmed; a flag that’s past that is ready to retire.
2. Fold itFold it respectfully, the same way you’d store a flag in good condition.
3. Take it to a retirement ceremonyVeterans groups such as The American Legion hold flag retirement ceremonies, and many local posts collect unserviceable flags. Call a nearby post to ask.
4. Replace itOrder a new one from our U.S. flag collection, or come see indoor and outdoor flags in the showroom.

Shopping for a flag or a pole? See flags and flagpoles at Rose City Awning & Flag, or call the shop at (503) 226-2761.