April 26 – “The Flag”

I attended my first session at the honor guard training academy yesterday.  We learned some of the many regulations regarding the American flag.  In no particular order, here are a few of the things that jumped out at me:

There is always supposed to be a flag posted at every polling place.  Seaside has been one for years, and I don’t remember there ever being a flag there.  I’ll have to look into getting us one.

When a flag is displayed on a wall, the union of the stripes and the block of stars should always be at the upper left corner.  Similarly, when a flag is displayed between two ladder trucks at a funeral, you have to pay attention to the compass.  If the road runs north and south, the block should always be on the east side.  If the road runs east and west, the block should be on the north side.  Easy way to remember that is our first states were in the Northeast.  Complicated stuff.

The American flag is always flown above other flags, like states or POW or local entities.  If there are numerous state flags represented, they can be lined up in one of two ways.  Ideally they should be in the order in which the state joined the union.  If there is no resident historian, option two is simply alphabetical order. 

If the American flag is being flown with the flags of other countries, such as at the United Nations, the flags are all flown at the same height.

There is one occasion when another flag can be placed above the American flag:  When worship services are being conducted on a naval vessel, the Christian flag is placed on top. 

The American flag can only be lowered to half-mast on a direct order from the President.  He can give permission for governors to make the call in their own jurisdiction, but ultimately it is his responsibility.

The position of the flag that is draped over a casket at a funeral is very specific.  The block of stars is placed at the head of the casket such that the viewer at the foot of the casket sees the block to his left.  And as an aside, caskets adorned with a flag should always be carried feet first, except for fallen presidents and clergy.  Not sure why clergy are included with the presidents.

If a flag is painted on the tail of an airplane, it should look like the flag is flapping in the breeze as the plane is flying.

Now let me close with a quiz for you.  See how you do.  The flag must be taken down for the night unless there is adequate lighting for it to be illuminated.  There are only two places that are exceptions to that rule.  Anybody know where that is?  If you can’t find the answer, let me know and I’ll post it. 

Mark 9:36-37 says, “He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.’”

Father, thank you for the effort those instructors put into a fascinating look at flag etiquette.  I sure had no idea there was that much to it.  Amen.