Showing respect for our flag on flag day

Photo: iStock.com/bauhaus1000

When it comes to patriotic summer celebrations, Memorial Day and the 4th of July get a lot of attention. But there’s a third summertime holiday that deserves more pop-culture love — or, at least, a few more parties.

And that’s June 14, aka Flag Day.

Flag Day marks the anniversary of the day that Congress adopted the stars and stripes as the United States flag in 1777. The idea for this flag-focused celebration bounced around for more than 100 years but wasn’t made official until 1947 by President Harry Truman.

Today’s Flag Day celebrations tend to be modest: People fly the red, white, and blue at their homes; schools and towns host flag-raising ceremonies. So if you’d like to join in the festivities — or maybe even kick them up a notch — it’s pretty easy to get started. All you need is a flag and an understanding of how to handle it appropriately.

About the U.S. Flag: A Brief History

”Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

–Act from the U.S. Congress establishing the U.S. flag, signed June 14, 1777

When it comes to the origin of the flag, there’s both myth and fact to go on. What we know for sure: In 1777, Congress passed an act establishing the stars and stripes as the flag of the United States. In 1818, another act said each state would get its own star on the flag. And in 1912, an executive order defined the flag’s proportions and organization (up until then, the flag had many different stars-and-stripes arrangements).

Interestingly, however, no one knows for sure how the first flag was actually created. The most popular theory is that New Jersey Congressman Francis Hopkinson designed it and Philadelphia seamstress (Betsy Ross) sewed it.

How to Handle a Flag: The U.S. Flag Code

The first and most important thing you need to know about the U.S. flag is that it is considered a living symbol of a living country, and that means there are specific rules about its handling and care.

In fact, there are laws about it. They’re no longer enforced — meaning there’s no official punishment for violating them (good news for all you out there wearing flag t-shirts or using the flag on advertisements, both of which are frowned upon). But that doesn’t mean that flag protocol isn’t important.

You can find the complete regulations in Title 4 of the U.S. Code, called The U.S. Flag Code, but the highlights you need to know for Flag Day include:

  • The field of stars goes to the top left, as you’re looking at the flag. Stripes to the top-right, going down to the bottom. (This is important to know because some interpret an upside-down flag as a signal of critical distress.)
  • In general, the flag should be displayed from sunrise to sunset.
  • If the weather’s bad, only weatherproof flags should be displayed.
  • The U.S. flag is displayed at the top of the pole. If you’re displaying a state flag as well, it should hang below it.
  • With few exceptions, the flag should not be dipped in the presence of people or other symbols.
  • When possible, the flag should fly freely (i.e., don’t try to make it wave, let the wind do that).
  • The flag shouldn’t touch anything beneath it, particularly the ground.
  • Tattered flags should not be displayed; instead, they should be disposed of in a respectful manner.

Fun Flag Day Facts

The flag etiquette we follow in the United States is very similar to the rules followed in other countries, but there are some variations around the world. A few examples:

  • Courtesy flags (miniature versions of flags) are often flown when foreign ships are in that country’s waters.
  • French ships lower and raise their flags to greet each other.
  • The flag of Saudi Arabia bears a religious symbol — the Shahada — and, thus, can never be flown at half-mast.
  • Uruguay’s flag cannot be used as a symbol on anything else.