Hanging a flag on a wall

[Libby]

I am trying to find out the proper way to hang a flag when it is against a wall. I have tried to look and read various places, but am getting mixed messages and some are long and hard to follow. What position should the blue be located, the top but as you face the flag the same as your right or left?

[Peter Ansoff]

Hello, Libby - welcome!

I am trying to find out the proper way to hang a flag when it is against a wall. I have tried to look and read various places, but am getting mixed messages and some are long and hard to follow. What position should the blue be located, the top but as you face the flag the same as your right or left?

It's actually pretty straightforward, actually. The flag code says:

"When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the [blue] union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right, that is, to the observer’s left."

The general rule-of-thumb is that the right (the flag's right, which is the observer's left) is the place of honor. The same principle applies when the US flag is displayed with other flags at the same height.

I don't know the origin of this principle, but it goes back at least to ancient Roman times. When the Roman legions lined up for a review, the senior legion was positioned on its own right.

Peter Ansoff

[Libby]

I have seen this, but it looks backwards, the tag of the flag is even showing. So from a pole position, you would have to flip the flag the opposite direction to hang on a wall? It just looks wrong.

[Peter Ansoff]

I have seen this, but it looks backwards, the tag of the flag is even showing.

It's usual to cut off the tag before displaying the flag.

So from a pole position, you would have to flip the flag the opposite direction to hang on a wall?

Yes, exactly. Fortunately, most flags have the same design on both sides. Not all do, however. For example, the state flag of Oregon doesn't. I don't know how they handle this in their state flag code!

I've attached a photo of the president delivering his State of the Union address in 2003. As you can see, the flag on the wall behind him is displayed vertically in accordance with the flag code.

Peter Ansoff

[Rockdude_UK]

I doubt it would be disrespectful to nail it to some wood straights then screw these into the wall. Careful though, a lot of houses in the U.S. have plasterboard walls that break easily (no offence but some new ones are), so use rawl plugs