There is a fairly rigid flag protocol set up by law for displaying, using, and caring for the US flag. Do any individual states have a protocol for their state flag?
In particular, with the US flag ordered at half-mast for the tsunami disaster, I see that my company is displaying the Missouri state flag at half-mast also. I don’t know if this is because of a Missouri state protocol or because the US code states that no flag should be flow higher than the US flag.
What about foreign flags? Does anyone know if any foreign countries have flag protocols, and if so, are they as rigid as the US code?
What happens at a place like the UN plaza when the US flag is ordered at half-mast? Does the US flag stay at full-mast at that place so as not to be lower than the other nation’s flags, or go to half-mast despite being lower than other flags? (This would be at times other than the current tsunami observation, such as upon the death of a US President when only the US would be expected to observe the death in that manner.)
The US Flag Code is law (36 USC 10), but it only applies to the military and federal agencies. For everyone else, it’s a suggestion.
The flag code does describe protocols for dealing with state and foreign flags. Most of it is rather common-sense stuff, like “no state flag should be higher than any other or higher than the US flag” and “flags of other countries should be the same height as the US flag,” etc. I’m not sure how the UN deals with such things.
I read once that the flags at UN plaza never go to half-mast because it’s just too difficult to reconciling all the different national flag protocols.
For example, under Saudi law the Saudi flag never goes to half-mast because the writing on it is the Muslum profession of faith (“There is no God but Allah and Muhammed is his prophet.”), which can’t be lowered in mourning.
The President could have ordered the US flag to be flown at half staff for the tsunami disaster, or for the recent death of a US congressman, or for any other reason that he deems appropriate.
And the poster is correct that the “law” really pertains only to govt employees. If I buy a flag, I then own it. It’s my property, and I can do anything I want with it except hurt someone else or burn it in a community with an ordinance against burning things like trash, leaves, etc. (very common in the US).
Parenthetically, it is not possible to “desecrate” the US flag, since it is by definition not a religious, holy or sacred symbol. Also, the suggested means of disposal of worn US flags is by burning.