American Flag Description, Meaning, Display, and Retirement Rules

The rules for the American flag come from two places: Title 4 of the United States Code, which sets the design and the customs for display, and Executive Order 10834, which fixes the exact proportions. Together they cover what the flag looks like, when and how to fly it, what not to do with it, and how to retire one that is worn out. For private citizens, almost all of it is guidance rather than law.

What the Flag Looks Like

The flag has thirteen horizontal stripes of equal width, alternating red and white, with red on both the top and bottom edges. That makes seven red stripes and six white ones. The thirteen stripes represent the original thirteen colonies and have been fixed at that number since 1818.¹

The blue rectangle in the upper left is called the union. It holds fifty white, five-pointed stars, one per state, arranged in nine staggered rows: five rows of six stars alternating with four rows of five. Each star points straight up. President Eisenhower’s Executive Order 10834, signed in 1959 after Hawaii’s admission, set this arrangement. Under 4 U.S.C. §2, whenever a new state joins, a star is added on the following July 4th.²

The three colors are known as Old Glory Red, White, and Old Glory Blue. Executive Order 10834 also sets the flag’s proportions: the width-to-length ratio is 1 to 1.9, and the union covers roughly 40 percent of the length and 54 percent of the width.³ Those proportions are mandatory only for flags made or bought for federal executive agencies and the military.⁴ A retail flag with slightly different dimensions is not illegal for private display, and commercial flags can also vary a bit in shade from the official colors.

When and How to Display the Flag

The custom is to fly the flag outdoors from sunrise to sunset. If you want it up at night, it should be lit. A spotlight or a porch light aimed at the flag is enough.⁵

When you hang the flag flat against a wall, either horizontally or vertically, the union goes in the upper left from the viewer’s side. Same rule in a window: the blue field faces the street on the left.⁶

Alongside other flags, the American flag takes the position of honor. In a row of separate staffs, it goes to the far left from the viewer’s perspective. No other flag should fly above it, and on the same level, no other flag should be larger.

Flying the flag with the union down is reserved for a single purpose: signaling extreme distress or danger to life and property. Outside that, an upside-down flag is treated as disrespectful under the code.⁷

What Not to Do With the Flag

Section 8 of the Flag Code lists uses considered disrespectful. Several describe things people see all the time:

Do not wear the flag as clothing, use it as bedding, or hang it as curtains. For draping a platform or speaker’s desk, red, white, and blue bunting is the recommended alternative.
Do not use the flag for advertising, and do not print it on disposable items like paper napkins or boxes.
Do not place letters, pictures, or designs on the flag itself.
Do not use the flag to cover a ceiling.
Do not let the flag touch the ground, floor, water, or anything beneath it.
Do not use the flag as a costume or athletic uniform. A flag patch on the uniform of military personnel, firefighters, police officers, and members of patriotic organizations is specifically allowed.

The lapel pin has its own rule: because it is a replica and not a flag, it goes on the left lapel, near the heart.⁷

Half-Staff Rules

Lowering the flag to half-staff has a specific procedure. Raise it briskly to the top of the staff first, hold it there for an instant, then lower it to the midpoint. Before taking it down at the end of the day, raise it back to the peak.⁸

Federal law sets the duration after the death of certain officials:

President or former President: 30 days from the date of death.
Vice President, Chief Justice, or Speaker of the House: 10 days from the date of death.
Associate Justice, cabinet secretary, former Vice President, or state governor: from the date of death until interment.
Member of Congress: the day of death and the following day.

Fixed dates for half-staff display include Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), Patriot Day (September 11), and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7). Memorial Day is the odd one: half-staff only until noon, then back to the top of the staff for the rest of the day.⁸

State governors can order half-staff display within their states for deaths of state officials, active-duty service members from that state, and first responders killed in the line of duty. When a governor issues such a proclamation for a military death, federal installations in that state must comply.

Retiring a Worn Flag

When a flag is too faded, torn, or soiled to display properly, the Flag Code says to destroy it in a dignified way, preferably by burning.⁷ American Legion posts, VFW halls, and Boy Scout troops hold flag retirement ceremonies and accept worn flags. Some communities also keep collection boxes at fire stations or government buildings.

Are Any of These Rules Actually Enforceable

For private citizens, the answer is essentially no. The Flag Code uses “should” throughout, not “shall,” which makes the display and treatment provisions advisory. There is no fine for flying the flag at night without a light, no ticket for a flag-print shirt, and no legal penalty for hanging it upside down in protest.

A separate criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. §700, does prescribe up to a year of imprisonment for physically destroying or defacing a flag.⁹ The Supreme Court held in Texas v. Johnson (1989) that burning the flag as political protest is protected speech under the First Amendment, and it struck down a follow-up federal flag-protection law on the same grounds shortly after.¹⁰ The statute remains on the books but cannot be enforced against expressive conduct. Section 700 also contains its own exception for disposing of worn or soiled flags, which lines up with the retirement guidance in the Flag Code.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC Chapter 1 – The Flag
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC Chapter 1 – The Flag – Section 2
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC Chapter 1 – The Flag – Section: Ex. Ord. No. 10834
4
National Archives. Executive Orders – Executive Order 10834
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 6 – Time and Occasions for Display
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 8 – Respect for Flag
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 4 USC 7 – Position and Manner of Display
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 700 – Desecration of the Flag of the United States; Penalties
10
Justia. Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989)