¡± 175. Position and manner of display
The flag, when carried in a procession with another flag or flags, should be either on the
marching right; that is, the flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in
front of the center of that line.
(a) The flag should not be displayed on a float in a parade except from a staff, or as
provided in subsection (i) of this section.
(b) The flag should not be draped over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a
railroad train or a boat. When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be
fixed firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right
of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by
naval chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag during church
services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall display the flag of the United
Nations or any other national or international flag equal, above, or in a position of
superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any
place within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided, That
nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore
followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a position of superior prominence
or honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of
the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.
(d) The flag of the United States of America, when it is displayed with another flag
against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its
staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.
(e) The flag of the United States of America should be at the center and at the highest
point of the group when a number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies
are grouped and displayed from staffs.
(f) When flags of States, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the
same halyard with the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak.
When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United States should be
hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of
the United States or to the United States flag's right.
(g) When flags of two or more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate
staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International
usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time
of peace.
(h) When the flag of the United States is displayed from a staff projecting horizontally
or at an angle from the window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the
flag should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at half staff. When the
flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope extending from a house to a pole at the edge
of the sidewalk, the flag should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.
(i) When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be
uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in
a window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to
the left of the observer in the street.
(j) When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended
vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street or to the east in a
north and south street.
(k) When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed
above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public
auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior
prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's or
speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on
the left of the clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.
(l) The flag should form a distinctive feature of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or
monument, but it should never be used as the covering for the statue or monument.
(m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant
and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak
before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at
half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the
President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of
the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a
mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign
dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential
instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not
inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the
government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, the Governor of
that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at
half-staff. The flag shall be flown at half-staff thirty days from the death of the
President or a former President; ten days from the day of death of the Vice President, the
Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House
of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice
President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death
and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at halfstaff on
Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this
subsection -
(1) the term "half-staff" means the position of the flag when it is one-half the
distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
(2) the term "executive or military department" means any agency listed under
sections 101 and 102 of title 5; and
(3) the term "Member of Congress" means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate,
or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
(n) When the flag is used to cover a casket, it should be so placed that the union is at
the head and over the left shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or
allowed to touch the ground.
(o) When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main
entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's
left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be
suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north,
when entrances are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to the north and
south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the
east.
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(Material above downloaded from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/36/175.html)