I am eager to teach a course on flag etiquette to a group of young people next week. This site has been especially helpful.

Perhaps you can answer a question that I have concerning the proper way to salute a flag during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. It is my understanding that those in military uniform are to keep their headdress on while saluting. What of those in non-military uniform? Specifically, I am interested in the proper etiquette for scouting groups.

Should men/boys remove their headdress? Should women/girls do the same? If so, where should they hold their headdress, and how should they salute? With a hand over the heart, or with the full-hand salute?

Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Cricket from Missouri

Great question!

When civilians salute the flag during the Pledge of Alliegance or National Anthem, they do so by placing their right hand over their hearts, fingers together and palms open.

Traditionally, men remove any head covers and hold them over their left shoulder; women are not required to do so. However, scouts in uniform keep their head covers on, and salute either with their hands over their hearts or with the traditional scout salute.

This information is from the PoetPatriot (United States Flag - Etiquett  -  www.PoetPatriot.com) as well as a public email sent by a Bout Scout scoutmaster (SCOUTS-L Archives -- October 1997 (#783)). While the information generally concerns Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts woud presumably follow the same protocol.

Good luck with your etiquette course!

Thanks WhitneyJH! This will surely be helpful to our group!

Have a grrrreat Flag Day!

Cricket from Missouri