Displaying the US Flag with Other Flags

The US Flag is the symbol of our country. Scouts should know how to fold it, fly it, and handle it.  Flag etiquette is part of many of the Scout requirements. In many cases, the rules are pretty straightforward. But in other cases, you just need to know the rules. For example, it gets more complicated when you are flying the US flag with flags from other nations. Here are the basics.

Displaying the US Flag with Other Flags

• When displayed with lesser flags (such as states, communities, or organizations) and the flagpoles are all the same height, the United States flag is always placed in the position of honor – to its own right. Or the United States flag may be flown higher than the lesser flags.
• The United States flag should be the same size or larger than the other flags it is being flown with.
• No other flag should be displayed higher than or above the United States flag.
• Always raise the United States flag before other flags and lower it after other flags.
• When flown with the flags of other countries, each flag must be displayed from a separate pole of the same height. Each country’s flag should be the same size. They all be raised and lowered at the same time so that the flag of one nation is never displayed above the flag of another nation.
• Another nation’s flag must never be flown on the same halyard as the United States flag.
• If a state or local flag is flown on the same halyard as the United States flag, the lesser flag must fly below the United States flag.
• In another nation, that nation’s flag may be given a place of honor. But on US soil, the United States flag must hold the place of honor.

*A halyard is the line or rope used to hoist a flag.