Flag Etiquette

U.S. flag at peak, above any other flag.

U.S. flag goes to its own right. Flags of other nations are flown at the same height.

U.S. flag to marchers' right (observer's left).

When displayed with a speaker's platform, it must be above and behind the speaker. If mounted on a staff, it is on the speaker's right.

Never use the flag for decoration. Use bunting with the blue on top, then white, then red.

All persons in uniform should render the military salute. Veterans and active-duty members not in uniform may also render the salute. All others should face the flag, stand at attention, and place their right hand over the heart. Headdress, if worn, is held at the left shoulder over the heart.

The union (stars) faces north or east depending on the direction of the street.

On special days, the flag may be flown at half-staff. On Memorial Day it is flown at half-staff until noon and then raised to full staff.

Per the Federal Flag Code, the flag is normally displayed from sunrise to sunset. When a patriotic effect is desired, she may fly twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

Hold the flag waist-high with another person, parallel to the ground.

Fold the lower striped section of the flag over the blue field.

Fold the folded edge over to meet the open edge.

Begin a triangular fold by bringing the striped corner of the folded edge to the open edge.

Turn the outer point inward, parallel with the open edge, to form a second triangle.

Continue triangular folding until the entire length of the flag is folded — with only the blue field visible.

The finished flag resembles a cocked hat — a tribute to the soldiers of the Revolution who fought to win this nation's freedom.

The name "Old Glory" was first applied to the U.S. flag by Capt. William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts. On his 21st birthday in 1824, his mother and a group of Salem girls presented him with a beautiful flag, which he named "Old Glory." It sailed with him for years. After Tennessee seceded in 1861, Driver hid the flag inside a comforter. When Union soldiers entered Nashville in 1862, he carried it to the capitol building and raised it overhead. Old Glory is preserved today at the Smithsonian.

Tradition holds that in 1776 Gen. George Washington, Robert Morris, and Col. George Ross visited Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross with a rough design for a stars-and-stripes flag. She agreed to make it and suggested five-pointed stars instead of six. On June 14, 1777, Congress adopted the design as the official U.S. flag.

Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" in 1814 while watching the bombardment of Fort McHenry. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed it the national anthem in 1916, and continuous lobbying by the Veterans of Foreign Wars led Congress to officially designate it as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.