US flag etiquette: position of honor and order of flags

The rules on where the flag of the United States is placed among other flags are in 4 U.S.C. § 7, the longest section of the Flag Code. Their common thread is that the national flag holds the position of honor: highest, at the center, or on its own right. Flags of other nations are the exception, as they are flown as equals; they are covered in the guide to foreign flags in the United States.

The basic rule

Under § 7(c), no other flag or pennant is placed above the flag of the United States or, if on the same level, to its right. The only exception in the Code is the church pennant, which may fly above the flag during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea. The flag’s own right is the observer’s left.

Flags on flagpoles

According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), where there is only one flagpole, the federal flag is displayed above state or municipal flags. The Flag Code does not set an order among several state flags.

On a wall, in a window and over a street

• Against a wall, horizontally or vertically: the union is uppermost and to the flag’s own right, the observer’s left (§ 7(i)).
• In a window: the union is to the left of the observer in the street (§ 7(i)).
• Over the middle of a street: suspended vertically, with the union to the north in an east–west street and to the east in a north–south street (§ 7(j)).
• Across a corridor or lobby with one main entrance: vertically, with the union to the observer’s left on entering (§ 7(o)).
• From a rope between a house and a pole at the edge of the sidewalk: hoisted out union first from the building (§ 7(h)).

Indoors and on a stage

On a speaker’s platform, a flag displayed flat is above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the US flag is in the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience and at the speaker’s right as the speaker faces the audience; any other flag is on the speaker’s left (§ 7(k)). At the unveiling of a statue or monument, the flag is a distinctive feature of the ceremony but is not used as the covering (§ 7(l)).

In a procession and on vehicles

In a procession with other flags, the US flag is on the marching right, or in front of the center of a line of other flags (§ 7). On a float it is displayed from a staff (§ 7(a)). It is not draped over the hood, top, sides or back of a vehicle, a train or a boat; on a car, the staff is fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender (§ 7(b)).

The Pledge and the anthem

• Pledge of Allegiance (4 U.S.C. § 4): rendered standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. Persons in uniform remain silent, face the flag and render the military salute, and since 2013 members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may do the same.
• National anthem (36 U.S.C. § 301): when the flag is displayed, people in uniform salute from the first note to the last, and all others face the flag with the right hand over the heart. When no flag is displayed, all face toward the music.
• Raising and lowering (4 U.S.C. § 9): the same conduct applies while the flag is raised, lowered or passes in a parade; citizens of other countries stand at attention.

Company and organization flags

A company or club flag flown with the US flag follows the rules for society pennants: below the US flag on the same halyard, and to the observer’s right of it on separate staffs. More in the guide to flagpoles for businesses. The flags themselves are described in the guide to flags of the United States, and the general rules in the guide to the US Flag Code.