Is there ever a time when, on American soil, the American flag is not the flag of honor?

At the UN, technically not US soil, on Navy boats during religious services, and anywhere the Christian flag is being followed.

Flag Precedence Historic Flags :

Question: Greetings! My name is __ and I am a Senior cadet in the AFROTC program at ____. Our detachment is starting to put together a flag ceremony to both educate and inspire the community; we intend to perfect it to the point where our performances will be requested. The ceremony will include the current US flag as well as historical flags (to include the Gadsden Flag, Grand Union Flag, the Union Jack, The Star Spangled Banner, etc). Our question is- what is the protocol in displaying these flags together; we assume the current US flag will be front, center, and higher than the rest but do the other flags require a certain order? Any help in deciding this matter, along with any other advice you can offer, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again!

Answer: Wow. What a cool letter and what a cool goal. I wish I could see your ceremony when it is perfected. You are correct that the US flag takes the position of honor. That position differs depending on how all the flags are being displayed. Follow the links on our flag etiquette page to the Flag Code and you will see what I mean. The US flag is not necessarily always higher. But, with very rare exceptions, it is always in the position of honor.

The other part of your question deals with the concept of flag precedence. There is indeed a pecking order when it comes to which flag gets honored before the next one. It is kind of like the concept of seniority. The Flag Code is silent on how to honor historical flags over one another. However, base the precedence of the historical flags on their age. The Defense Dept does that with the armed forces. They are honored in order of their creation. The same is done with the 50 state flags. They can be displayed alphabetically OR in order of their admission into the union.

So research the historic flags you are using and give them precedence based on their age. In your example, here is the order: USA, Gadsden Flag, Grand Union Flag, The Star Spangled Banner. I have left out the Union Jack because in my experience, people mean different things when they use that term. Some mean the modern day flag of the UK. Some mean the colonial Kings Colors. But you get the idea. An interesting point: If you are using a foreign flag such as that of the UK, it takes precedence over all others except the USA. It would even come before a state or even the flag of the United States Air Force!

Flag Precedence: Historic Flags

Question: OK you guys should know this. A local Dallas school uses the Bennington ('76) historical US flag because it matches their Patriot mascot. They fly on one flagpole, the US Flag, the Bennington US FLag, and the Texas flag in this order. My question is can the antique Bennington flag be flown over the Texas flag (between the US & Texas flag). Given that its an antique flag I'm just curious if it takes precedence over a current State flag. Thanks so much!

Answer: The US Flag code is silent on this specific matter as it is on many permutations regarding flag usage. The code can not have anticipated every varied situation. In my view, cases like these come down to context, intent, logic, and in the end, respect. I would say, the school has it correct. The Code tells us how to properly respect and honor The American flag and the school is trying to do just this. One of the ways The Code provides to respect the flag is by laying out the notion of "position of honor." That is to say, there is a pecking order for types of flags. The US Flag Code does not specifically reference non current versions of the US flag. This point is where logic and intent come in. The intent of everyone involved there at the school is to respect and honor the US flag. Tradition and practice has established that an historic version of the US flag flag remains entitled to the same respect as is the current day US flag. And a US flag does take precedence over a state flag. It may interest you to know that a foreign flag also takes precedence over a state flag! So according to The Flag Code, if the president of Mexico visited the school, his flag comes after the American flag in flag precedence, but before the Texas flag! As a side point, a foreign flag is supposed to be on a separate pole at the same height of the US flag.

One could argue that the Bennington flag was never an official US flag. I would not accept that side argument. Back then, Congress had not yet defined exactly what a US flag was supposed to look like. Local flag makers and individual folks were free to use their own imagination as long as it had the right number of stars and stripes. So even if it were a local variant not widely used, The Bennington Flag was as much an American flag as any other. And in our hearts and minds, it is one of our most popular and beloved American flags.