Your American Flag

Displaying Your Flag

• When the national flag is displayed flat, either horizontally or vertically, on a wall or in a window, the union (blue field) should be at the top and to the observer's left when facing the flag.
• When displayed from a staff projecting from a windowsill, balcony, or the front of a building, the union (blue field) should be at the staff's peak (unless the flag is at half-staff).
• The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, floor, or water.
• It is universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the darkness hours.
• Flag decals and stickers may be correctly displayed on the inside of motor vehicle side windows.

Flying Your Flag at Half-Mast

• When flown at half-staff, the flag is hoisted to the peak for an instant, then lowered to the half-staff position (half the distance from the top to the bottom of the staff). Before the flag is lowered for the day, it is raised again to the top, then lowered.
• If your flag is on an outrigger flagpole or mounted on a wall and cannot be flown at half-staff, drape a purple and black mourning ribbon across the flag.