[joecain]

There is a local issue on possibly having a flag on top of a 150' high cell phone tower in our neighborhood. Questions include:

1. will the sponsor have to take the flag down at night?
2. If it is not taken down, does it have to be illuminated at night?
3. Someone said that the US Flag should not be flown in the rain. Could this be true? It would seem an impractical restriction.

Are there specific federal laws pertaining to the display of the U. S. Flag? The web site provides some "protocols" but are they enforceable by law?

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi, Joe -- welcome to the forum.

I'll answer your last question first: No, the "flag code" is not enforceable by law. It is just a set of recommended guidelines for proper display of the flag. It is the law, in the sense that it was adopted by Congress and signed by the President, but (with one trivial and irrelevant exception) it has no enforcement provisions.

Concerning flying the flag at night, here is what the code says:

It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

It doesn't actually say that you have to illuminate the flag, but only that it's customary to do so. This is less true than it was in 1923, when the code was adopted.

Concerning weather, the code says:

The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.

Again, this was adopted in 1923, before flags were made of synthetic materials. Nowdays, most flags are all-weather flags.

I hope this answers your questions. Again, welcome!

Peter Ansoff