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Patriot Day has been added. to the Flag Holidays listed in section 174
of the US Flag Code. On December 18, 2001, President Bush signed Public
Law No: 107-89, designating September 11th as Patriot Day. State and local
governments and the people of the United States are asked to observe Patriot
Day with appropriate programs and activities to honor the individuals
who lost their lives as a result of the terrorist attacks on that date
in 2001.
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The day has also been designated as a day that the US flag should be
flown at half-staff from sunrise to sundown, not just until noon as is
done on Memorial Day. In addition the people of the United States are
asked to observe a moment of silence on Patriot Day in remembrance of
the victims.
Many people have asked if Government offices, schools, banks, etc. will
be closed on that day. We dont have that information at this time
but as decisions are made we will keep you informed.
Patriot Day should not be confused with Patriots Day, a regional
holiday celebrated in New England on the third Monday in April which commemorates
Paul Reveres ride and the battle of Lexington & Concord during
the Revolutionary War. The Boston Marathon is run on Patriots Day
every year.
For a copy of the Public Law, visit the National Flag Foundation at www.americanflags.org.
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As a patriotic American wouldn’t you be upset if you purchased
an American flag to proudly display at your home or to give as a gift
only to find out that you had mistakenly purchased a foreign made version
of Old Glory? Here’s how to make sure…
This rectangular logo and the oval certification seal are your assurances
that this product has been made in the USA of materials that are domestic
in origin and that all processes in every step of the US flag’s
manufacture were completed in USA facilities with USA labor.
FMAA, the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, is an organization
made up of several of the country’s leading flag makers who have
crafted a set of specifications that will guarantee and highlight the
domestic sourcing and manufacture of US flags.
Spread the word. Tell your friends to look for the FMAA logo and/or
seal to ensure that they are purchasing a US made American flag. |
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| The National Flag represents the living country
and is considered to be a living thing emblematic of the respect and pride
we have for our nation. Display it proudly. |
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§ 170. National anthem;
Star-Spangled Banner.
§ 171. Conduct during playing.
§ 172. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery.
§ 173. Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules
and customs; definition.
§ 174. Time and occasions for display.
§ 175. Position and manner of display.
§ 176. Respect for flag.
§ 177. Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag.
§ 178. Modification of rules and customs by President.
§ 179. Design for service flag; persons entitled to display flag.
§ 180. Design for service lapel button; persons entitled to wear button.
§ 181. Approval of designs by Secretary of Defense; license tomanufacture
and sell; penalties.
§ 182. Rules and regulations.
§ 182a to 184. Repealed.
§ 185. Transferred.
§ 186. National motto.
§ 187. National floral emblem.
§ 188. National march.
§ 189. Recognition of National League of Families POW/MIA flag. |
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The composition consisting of the
words and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner is
designated the national anthem of the United States of America. |
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| During rendition of the national
anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except those in uniform should
stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Men
not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold
it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform
should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain
this position until the last note. When the flag is not displayed, those
present should face toward the music and act in the same manner they would
if the flag were displayed there. |
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The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,
'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of
America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.', should be rendered by standing
at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not
in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold
it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform
should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. |
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| The following codification of existing
rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United
States of America is established for the use of such civilians or civilian
groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations
promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Government of the
United States. The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter
shall be defined according to sections 1 and 2 of title 4 and Executive
Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto. |
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(a) Display on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in open; night display
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 twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours
of darkness.
(b) Manner of hoisting
The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
(c) Inclement weather
The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement,
except when an all
weather flag is displayed.
(d) Particular days of display
The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New Year's Day,
January 1;
Inauguration Day, January 20; Lincoln's Birthday, February 12; Washington's
Birthday, third
Monday in February; Easter Sunday (variable); Mother's Day, second Sunday
in May;
Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May; Memorial Day (half-staff until
noon), the last
Monday in May; Flag Day, June 14; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day,
first Monday in
September; Constitution Day, September 17; Columbus Day, second Monday
in October;
Navy Day, October 27; Veterans Day, November 11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth
Thursday in
November; Christmas Day, December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed
by the
President of the United States; the birthdays of States (date of admission);
and on State
holidays.
(e) Display on or near administration building of public institutions
The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration
building of every public
institution.
(f) Display in or near polling places
The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election
days.
(g) Display in or near schoolhouses
The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.
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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. 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.
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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 or institutional flags are to be dipped
as a mark of honor.
(a) 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.
(b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground,
the floor, water, or
merchandise.
(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always
aloft and free.
(d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.
It should never be
festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.
Bunting of blue,
white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the
middle, and the red
below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front
of the platform, and
for decoration in general.
(e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such
a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any
way.
(f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
(g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it,
nor attached to it any
mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any
nature.
(h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding,
carrying, or delivering
anything.
(i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner
whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions
or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper
napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard.
Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which
the flag is flown.
(j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.
However, a flag
patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen,
and members of
patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself
considered a living
thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on
the left lapel near the
heart.
(k) 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.
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| During the ceremony of hoisting or
lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a parade or in review,
all persons present except those in uniform should face the flag and stand
at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in uniform
should render the military salute. When not in uniform, men should remove
their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder,
the hand being over the heart. Aliens should stand at attention. The salute
to the flag in a moving column should be rendered at the moment the flag
passes. |
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| Any rule or custom pertaining to
the display of the flag of the United States of America, set forth herein,
may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect
thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable;
and any such alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in a proclamation.
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| The Secretary of Defense is authorized
and directed to approve a design for a service flag, which flag may be displayed
in a window of the place of residence of persons who are members of the
immediate family of a person serving in the armed forces of the United States
during any period of war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the
United States may be engaged. |
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| The Secretary of Defense is also
authorized and directed to approve a design for a service lapel button,
which button may be worn by members of the immediate family of a person
serving in the armed forces of the United States during any period of war
or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the United States may be engaged.
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| Upon the approval by the Secretary
of Defense of the design for such service flag and service lapel button,
he shall cause notice thereof, together with a description of the approved
flag and button, to be published in the Federal Register. Thereafter any
person may apply to the Secretary of Defense for a license to manufacture
and sell the approved service flag, or the approved service lapel button,
or both. Any person, firm, or corporation who manufactures any such service
flag or service lapel button without having first obtained such a license,
or otherwise violates sections 179 to 182 of this title, shall, upon conviction
thereof, be fined not more than $1,000. |
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| The Secretary of Defense is authorized
to make such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the
provisions of sections 179 to 182 of this title. |
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| The national motto of the United
States is declared to be 'In God we trust.' |
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| The flower commonly known as the
rose is designated and adopted as the national floral emblem of the United
States of America, and the President of the United States is authorized
and requested to declare such fact by proclamation. |
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| The composition by John Philip Sousa
entitled 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' is hereby designated as the national
march of the United States of America. |
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The National League of Families POW/MIA
flag is hereby recognized officially and designated as
the symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully
as possible the fates of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted
for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the uncertainty for their families and
the Nation. |
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| The flag of the United States shall
be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of
the flag shall be fifty stars, white in a blue field. |
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| On the admission of a new State into
the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition
shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.
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| Any person who, within the District
of Columbia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause
to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement
of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States
of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such
flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted,
or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or
annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement
of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture,
sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession
for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or
substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise
or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which
shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation
of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention
to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so
placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by
a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days,
or both, in the discretion of the court. The words 'flag, standard, colors,
or ensign', as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign,
or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either,
made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently
purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the
United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon
which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number
of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average
person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent
the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America. |
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| The seal heretofore used by the United
States in Congress assembled is declared to be the seal of the United States.
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| The Secretary of State shall have
the custody and charge of such seal. Except as provided by section 2902(a)
of title 5, the seal shall not be affixed to any instrument without the
special warrant of the President therefor. |
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| (a) Except as provided by subsections
(b) and (c) of this section, the Secretary of State shall make out and record,
and affix the seal of the United States to, the commission of an officer
appointed by the President. The seal of the United States may not be affixed
to the commission before the commission has been signed by the President.
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The Executive departments are:
The Department of State. The Department of the Treasury. The Department
of Defense. The
Department of Justice. The Department of the Interior. The Department
of Agriculture. The
Department of Commerce. The Department of Labor. The Department of Health
and Human
Services. The Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Department
of Transportation. The Department of Energy. The Department of Education.
The Department of Veterans Affairs.
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The military departments are:
The Department of the Army. The Department of the Navy. The Department
of the Air Force.
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(a)(1) Whoever knowingly mutilates,
defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor
or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined
under this title or
imprisoned for not more than one year, or both.
(2) This subsection does not prohibit any conduct consisting of the disposal
of a flag when it
has become worn or soiled.
(b) As used in this section, the term 'flag of the United States' means
any flag of the United
States, or any part thereof, made of any substance, of any size, in a form
that is commonly
displayed.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed as indicating an intent on
the part of Congress to
deprive any State, territory, possession, or the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico of jurisdiction
over any offense over which it would have jurisdiction in the absence of
this section.
(d)(1) An appeal may be taken directly to the Supreme Court of the United
States from any
interlocutory or final judgment, decree, or order issued by a United States
district court ruling
upon the constitutionality of subsection (a).
(2) The Supreme Court shall, if it has not previously ruled on the question,
accept jurisdiction
over the appeal and advance on the docket and expedite to the greatest extent
possible. |
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The functions of the Office shall be as follows:
(1) To prepare, and submit to the Committee on the Judiciary one title
at a time, a complete
compilation, restatement, and revision of the general and permanent laws
of the United States
which conforms to the understood policy, intent, and purpose of the Congress
in the original
enactments, with such amendments and corrections as will remove ambiguities,
contradictions,
and other imperfections both of substance and of form, separately stated,
with a view to the
enactment of each title as positive law.
(2) To examine periodically all of the public laws enacted by the Congress
and submit to the
Committee on the Judiciary recommendations for the repeal of obsolete,
superfluous, and
superseded provisions contained therein.
(3) To prepare and publish periodically a new edition of the United States
Code (including
those titles which are not yet enacted into positive law as well as those
titles which have been
so enacted), with annual cumulative supplements reflecting newly enacted
laws.
(4) To classify newly enacted provisions of law to their proper positions
in the Code where
the titles involved have not yet been enacted into positive law.
(5) To prepare and submit periodically such revisions in the titles of
the Code which have
been enacted into positive law as may be necessary to keep such titles
current.
(6) To prepare and publish periodically new editions of the District of
Columbia Code, with
annual cumulative supplements reflecting newly enacted laws, through publication
of the fifth
annual cumulative supplement to the 1973 edition of such Code.
(7) To provide the Committee on the Judiciary with such advice and assistance
as the
committee may request in carrying out its functions with respect to the
revision and
codification of the Federal statutes.
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