§ 6. — Time and occasions for display.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 4USC6]
TITLE 4--FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES
CHAPTER 1--THE FLAG
Sec. 6. Time and occasions for display
(a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise
to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open.
However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed
24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
(b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
(c) The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is
inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.
(d) The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New
Year's Day, January 1; Inauguration Day, January 20; Martin Luther King
Jr.'s birthday, third Monday in January; Lincoln's Birthday, February
12; Washington's Birthday, third Monday in February; Easter Sunday
(variable); Mother's Day, second Sunday in May; Armed Forces Day, third
Saturday in May; Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), the last Monday
in May; Flag Day, June 14; Independence Day, July 4; Labor Day, first
Monday in September; Constitution Day, September 17; Columbus Day,
second Monday in October; Navy Day, October 27; Veterans Day, November
11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November; Christmas Day,
December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President
of the United States; the birthdays of States (date of admission); and
on State holidays.
(e) The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main
administration building of every public institution.
(f) The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on
election days.
(g) The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every
schoolhouse.
(Added Pub. L. 105-225, Sec. 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1494;
amended Pub. L. 106-80, Sec. 1, Oct. 25, 1999, 113 Stat. 1285.)
Historical and Revision Notes
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Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large)
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6..................................... 36:174. June 22, 1942, ch. 435, Sec. 2, 56
Stat. 378; Dec. 22, 1942, ch. 806,
Sec. 2, 56 Stat. 1074; July 7, 1976,
Pub. L. 94-344, (2)-(5), 90 Stat. 810.
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In subsection (d), the words ``Veterans Day'' are substituted for
``Armistice Day'' because of the Act of June 1, 1954 (ch. 250, 68 Stat.
168).
Amendments
1999--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106-80 inserted ``Martin Luther King
Jr.'s birthday, third Monday in January;'' after ``January 20;''.
