U.S. Code: Table Of Contents

TITLE 1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
TITLE 2 - THE CONGRESS
TITLE 3 - THE PRESIDENT
TITLE 4 - FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES
TITLE 5 - GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND EMPLOYEES
TITLE 5a - FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT
TITLE 6 - DOMESTIC SECURITY
TITLE 7 - AGRICULTURE
TITLE 8 - ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
TITLE 9 - ARBITRATION
TITLE 10 - ARMED FORCES
TITLE 11 - BANKRUPTCY
TITLE 11a - BANKRUPTCY RULES
TITLE 12 - BANKS AND BANKING
TITLE 13 - CENSUS
TITLE 14 - COAST GUARD
TITLE 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE
TITLE 16 - CONSERVATION
TITLE 17 - COPYRIGHTS
TITLE 18 - CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
TITLE 18a - UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OR RECEIPT OF FIREARMS
TITLE 19 - CUSTOMS DUTIES
TITLE 20 - EDUCATION
TITLE 21 - FOOD AND DRUGS
TITLE 22 - FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
TITLE 23 - HIGHWAYS
TITLE 24 - HOSPITALS AND ASYLUMS
TITLE 25 - INDIANS
TITLE 26 - INTERNAL REVENUE CODE
TITLE 27 - INTOXICATING LIQUORS
TITLE 28 - JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
TITLE 28a - JUDICIAL PERSONNEL FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS
TITLE 29 - LABOR
TITLE 30 - MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
TITLE 31 - MONEY AND FINANCE
TITLE 32 - NATIONAL GUARD
TITLE 33 - NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
TITLE 34 - CRIME CONTROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
TITLE 35 - PATENTS
TITLE 36 - PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
TITLE 37 - PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES
TITLE 38 - VETERANS’ BENEFITS
TITLE 39 - POSTAL SERVICE
TITLE 40 - PUBLIC BUILDINGS, PROPERTY, AND WORKS
TITLE 41 - PUBLIC CONTRACTS
TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
TITLE 43 - PUBLIC LANDS
TITLE 44 - PUBLIC PRINTING AND DOCUMENTS
TITLE 45 - RAILROADS
TITLE 46 - SHIPPING
TITLE 47 - TELECOMMUNICATIONS
TITLE 48 - TERRITORIES AND INSULAR POSSESSIONS
TITLE 49 - TRANSPORTATION
TITLE 50 - WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE
TITLE 50a - WAR AND NATIONAL DEFENSE [ELIMINATED] Current through 114–86u1
TITLE 51 - NATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL SPACE PROGRAMS
TITLE 52 - VOTING AND ELECTIONS
TITLE 53 - [RESERVED]
TITLE 54 - NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AND RELATED PROGRAMS

4 U.S. Code § 3 - Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag

Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. The words “flag, standard, colors, or ensign”, as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America.

(July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642; Pub. L. 90–381, § 3, July 5, 1968, 82 Stat. 291.)


4 U.S. Code § 8 - Respect for flag

No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
(a)The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
(b)The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor, water, or merchandise.
(c)The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free, except as may be necessary in limited circumstances and done in a respectful manner as part of a military or patriotic observance.
(d)The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker’s desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
(e)The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
(f)The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
(g)The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature.
(h)The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying, or delivering anything.
(i)The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
(j)No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform. However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
(k)The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
(Added Pub. L. 105–225, § 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1497; amended Pub. L. 118–159, div. A, title XVII, § 1703(a), Dec. 23, 2024, 138 Stat. 2208.)


4 U.S. Code § 10 - Modification of rules and customs by President

Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the United States of America, set forth herein, may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable; and any such alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in a proclamation.

(Added Pub. L. 105–225, § 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1498.)