Flag lighting: the night rule and floodlights

Law 5,700 has a simple rule for the night: under article 15(3), at night the flag is properly lit. A public body, a company or a private person may therefore leave the flag on the pole after sunset, as long as it has light. This guide covers that rule and what weighs in installing the lighting.

The rule in article 15

Under article 15, the flag may be raised and lowered at any time of day or night. It is normally raised at 8 a.m. and lowered at 6 p.m. (paragraph 1), and on Flag Day, 19 November, it is raised at noon (paragraph 2). When the flag stays up at night, the law provides that it is properly lit (paragraph 3). The law does not set the type of light or its intensity.

Without lighting on the pole, the flag is lowered at the end of the day, at the usual time of 6 p.m.

The permanent flag

A case of a flag flying day and night laid down in the law itself is the special pole on the Praça dos Três Poderes in Brasília, where, under article 12, the flag is permanently at the top as a perennial symbol of the homeland. At buildings where the flag is raised daily, such as those in article 13 of the law, the rule in article 15 also allows it to stay up at night, with lighting.

How a flagpole is lit

The law does not describe the lighting. In general, the light may come from floodlights on the ground pointing upwards or from lamps fixed to the pole itself or to nearby structures. The choice depends on the height of the pole, the size of the flag and its position in relation to the building and the street. In the wind, the flag moves, and the light covers the area in which it flies.

The electrical installation

Lighting a flagpole is an outdoor electrical installation, exposed to rain and humidity. Some points from the sources:

• qualified professionals: the distribution company Neoenergia Elektro recommends hiring qualified professionals and points out that handling tools wrongly can be fatal in the event of contact with the live grid;
• distance from the grid: the same company states that walls, windows, balconies and roofs may not be built less than 2.5 metres from the power grid and that antennas, whose supports are usually metal, are kept away from the grid;
• building standards: under article 11(2) of São Paulo’s Building and Construction Code, the use-safety design follows the standards for electrical installations and for the lightning protection system.

The guide to flagpole safety covers lightning, which is frequent in Brazil, and proximity to the grid.

Company flags

Article 15 concerns the national flag. A flag with a company’s logo, lit at night and visible from the street, may be considered an advertisement under municipal law. In São Paulo, the Clean City Law considers any means of visual communication present in the landscape visible from a public thoroughfare an advertisement. The guide to flagpoles for businesses covers these rules.