Handling History: Proper Flag Etiquette

Last Saturday June 14th, 2014 the United States celebrated Flag Day and the 200th anniversary of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

As part of this commemoration, National Museum of American History (NMAH) Intern Talia Berday-Sacks recently posted an article on the NMAH “Oh Say Can You See” blog about the history of American Flag etiquette and protocol.

In 1942 Congress established the U.S. Flag Code, which set forth a group of rules on civilian flag use that outlined proper conduct during flag ceremonies, display, and maintenance. Although these rules are advisory, these forms of conduct include the way to salute the flag by placing one’s hand over their heart and how to properly retire flags ceremonially. You can check out Talia’s piece here!