To whom: Should both men and women remove thier hats during the playing of the national anthem while the US flag is displayed? My wife says no. Please reply, thank you.

[american_flag_uk]

yes both should remove their hats

the flag code is not concerned about gender
if u have a hat - take it off with your right hand and hold it over your heart with the right hand

if your in uniform (ie military, fireman etc) render a military salute and the hat of the uniform may stay on the head

[Peter Ansoff]

the flag code is not concerned about gender

Yes, it is:

During a rendition of the national anthem—
. . .
(A) all present except those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart;
(B) men not in uniform should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold the headdress at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. . . (USC Title 36 para 301)

Although it doesn't say so explicitly, the implication is that women do not remove their hats. I'd have to check my sources, but I believe that this point was actually debated at the meeting that created the flag code in 1923.

Title 4 Para 9 describes conduct during the raising, lowering and passing of the flag, and uses almost identical language.

Peter Ansoff

[ColonelPoo]

I am a member of a military Color Guard. We recieved information through our Color Captain that the US Congress recently ammended the Flag Etiquit Code to specify that during the playing of the National Anthem, or Pledge to the Flag, ALL MILITARY PERSONELL or MILITARY VETS, whether covered or uncovered, are to rendere the MILITARY HAND SALUTE in leu of holding the right hand over the heart!
I tried to search this forum to confirm that change but was unsuccesful. Could someone confirm or reject this change?

[american_flag_uk]

personnally ve never heard of that - they havnt amended the flag code

[CultureGeek]

That's probably because of the hats that people wore at the time, as well as the significance of hats having been different for the genders for quite some time. For instance, men in 1932 were expected to remove their hats indoors and not only were women not expected to remove their hats indoors, but they were actually expected to cover their heads in most churches. The types of hats women wore in 1932 were also a bit more involved to remove, especially since they were often attached to the head with long pointy things.

Had it been written today, I would imagine that the gendered expectations would have been different, but it would also have even more exceptions for various religious headgear (e.g. Orthodox Jewish men, and Moslem and married Orthodox Jewish women, just to name a couple off the top of my head*), and then this new fashion for vintage clothing, well, who knows?

Not sure what that means for us but there you are.

*No pun intended. Honest. I really didn't this time.

[Vetdame]

Here's the change:

Military Report - Retirees and Vets Allowed to Salute Flag
Retirees and Vets Allowed to Salute Flag

Week of October 19, 2009
Traditionally, members of the nation?s veterans service organizations have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag only while wearing their organization?s official head-gear.The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 contained an amendment to allow un-uniformed servicemembers, military retirees, and veterans to render a hand salute during the hoisting, lowering, or passing of the U.S. flag. A later amendment further authorized hand-salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel. This was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on Oct. 14, 2008.

[Vetdame]

The hat on or off went as far as the 1980's style of US Army female beret, as very useless piece of headgear later discontinued. Females did not have to remove that cover upon entering a building, etc. Somewhere along the lines, that changed, though nothing can be found in print on the topic. It appears to me the changes are societal, changing with boys/men wearing ball caps in buildings. If their caps had to come off their heads, then I assume they expected girls/women to do the same. I continue to keep my cover on and I had always saluted the flag, long before the changes.

FIRST IN SUPPORT!
Vetdame aka Rita
Disabled Gulf War Veteran