Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press., 1926-06-10
FLAG ETIQUETTE IS
OUTLINED FOR ANNUAL
DAY OF OLD GLORY


American flag? When is it proper to
fly the flag upside down? Must the
flag be taken in at night? How about
sending soiled flags to the laundry!
/ These and numerous other queries
concerning Old Glory and its proper
display which the approach of Flag
day, June Ia, has stirred up, were
answered Wednesday for the benefit
of the public in an "outline Of flag
etiquette" received from army head
quarters by Lieutenant James F.
Morrison, in charge of the arms re-
cruiting station at 500 Austell build
ing. Atlanta, Ga.
The outline" is announced as a
code of flag ethics based on good
taste and certain fundamental rules
of heraldry and is designed to meet
the evident desire on the part of the
respect for the American flag thro
approved methods of display. The
code is merely suggestive, however,
as the army is without authority to
prescribe rules for observance by the
public, Lieutenant Morrison explained.
Most of the apparently intricate
questions of order of precedence, the
army code says, are easily answered
when it is recalled that the flag rep
resents the living country, it being
itself considered a living thing. AS
such it takes precedence over all 9TH
er flags, standards and emblems.
Next to order of precedence, the
greatest source of confusion to the
public is the designation of right and
left sides of the flag. This follows
heraldic practice. In heraldry the
right arm is the sword arm, and
therefore the point of danger. Hence
it is also the place of honor. AS the
starry field is the flags honor point,
the staff edge of the flag is always
designated as the flags right. A sim
pie rule is that the heraldic right of
a properly displayed flag is always
the observers left.
Proper Display Defined
Here is in part the army's outline
of flag etiquette:
There are only two ways to dis
play the American flag properly. One
is to fly the flag freely unfurled from
staff. The other is to hang the
flag fiat, with its full horizontal or
vertical length falling evenly.
When hung on the wall the flag
should be hung either horizontally or
vertically, with the starry field at the
top and to the heraldic right, which
be it remembered, is the observers
left
"At crossed stats with another
flag, the American flag should be on
N unI,'s lnf NJ -, -.
front Of the other flag.
"In a cluster of flags, Old Glory
should be in the center or the high
est point of the group.
when carried in a procession the
American flag should be either on the
marching right of all other flags, or
if there is line of flags, the national
flag should be in front of the center I
of that line.
"On staff projecting from a win
dow, the American flag may be hung
either horizontally or at an angle,
with the starry field drawn clear to
the truck, as the peak of the staff is
called.
Suspended between two rows of
buildings so as to hang over the mid
die of street, the flag should be
hung vertically with the starry field
to the north in east-and-west streets
and to the east in north-and-south
streets.
Whether indoors or out, the flag
should never be festooned over door
ways or arches, tied in a bow-knot,
or fashioned into rosette or draping.
For these purposes bunting of the
national colors is more appropriate,
and since the starry field is the honor
point, the bunting should be arranged
with the blue uppermost.
Use on Speakers Platform
"On speakers platform the flag,
If not flown from staff, should be
displayed fiat and placed above and
behind the speaker. If on a staff it
should have the position of honor, at
the heraldic right, or observers left.
"In hosting, the American flag
should be run up briskly. 1t should
be lowered slowly and tremendously.
The army sees no objection to flying
the flag at night over civilian proper
ty, if otherwise appropriate.
"Whe nflown at half-staff the flag
should first be run up to the top of
the staff, and then lowered. Before
finally lowering for the day, it should
again be run to the truck.
AT unveiling ceremonies the flag
should form a distinctive feature of
the program, but should not be used
as a covering for the statue.
"As signal of distress at sea the
flag is displayed with the starry field
down.
THE use of the flag for athletic
uniforms, handkerchiefs, napkins, or
other form lacking in dignity and re-
spect are gross abuses of the national
colors and offend all persons of pa
triotic feeling.
when the flag becomes soiled, it
may properly be sent to the laundry.
Laundering of the flag, however, may
be done with more reverence in ones
home.
There is an old army custom
which affords an opportunity to do
reverence to Old Glory whereby dam
aged and frayed flags are withdrawn
from active service. According to
this custom the blue field is cut from
the flag. Then the separate pieces
of the flag, which is no longer flag,
are cremated and the ashes scattered
over the parade ground.