[Randall]

Hello from Maine. I am Randall E. Lee, Dean of Students at a college here and have a question:

At our college, Central Maine Community College in Auburn, ME, we have a hall of flags representing all countries that our students were born at.

As you enter our main entrance you enter a small lobby and turn immediately to the right to a wide hallway that has all the flags displayed. It is my interpretation after searching flag codes and etiquette that the United States Flag should be displayed in the first row of three flags on the left-hand side (as I face it) at the same height and size as the other country flags. The flags cover the entire long hallway with 3 to a row and about 20 to a column.

The U.S. Code Sec. 7 (o) addresses flags suspended in a lobby or corridor but doesn’t quite specify this scenario.

Can you guide me?

Thank you for your work,

Randall E. Lee
Dean of Student Services
Central Maine Community College
(207) 755-5253
rlee@cmcc.edu

Displaying the Flag Indoors

When on display, the flag is accorded the place of honor, always positioned to its own right. Place it to the right of the speaker or staging area or sanctuary. Other flags should be to the left.
When one flag is used with the flag of the United States of America and the staffs are crossed, the flag of the United States is placed on its own right with its staff in front of the other flag.
When displaying the flag against a wall, vertically or horizontally, the flag's union (stars) should be at the top, to the flag's own right, and to the observer's left.
From the U.S. Code [Laws in effect as of January 3, 2006][CITE: 4USC7] TITLE 4--FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES CHAPTER 1--THE FLAG Sec. 7. Position and manner of display (o) When the flag is suspended across a corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east and west or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the east.

[Peter Ansoff]

Greetings, Randall -- welcome!

The general rule of thumb is that the position of honor is on the flag's own right, which is the left of the observer, and it sounds like that's what you have set up. The other national flags are typically displayed in alphabetical order of the countries' names.

The only tricky part comes when the flags are visible from both sides, so that the definition of "the flag's own right" becomes unclear. In that case, the rule of thumb follows the section that you quoted in your post: the position of honor is to the north and/or east. In your situation, however, it sounds like the "normal" point-of-view is from the entry lobby. The rules in the flag code are just guidelines, of course, and don't cover every possible situation.

I there any chance that you might be able to post a photo of the display here? It sounds impresssive.

Peter Ansoff