[mbrown432]

My Police agency allows us to wear a US Flag ribbon pin (similar in size to medals awarded to military service members) over our nameplate on the right side of our shirts (the wearers right side). It depicts the blue union with a few stars and the red & white stripes going horiznotal from the union. We accrue other medals for various actions and I was wondering where the US Flag pin should be placed? We are allowed to wear two pins in each row. Should the US Flag simply 1) be closet to the heart if on the same row and/or centered if above other pins or 2) should it always be above all other pins? I thought it should allows be above other pins/medals because it is not equal to any of them.

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi, mbrown!

There is no hard-and-fast rule for this as far as I know -- your agency is free to make its own regulations. However, the general principle is that the place of honor is above and/or to the flag's right (viewer's left). My thought would be that the flag pin should either be by itself above all the others, or on the right side of the top row.

The flag code says that a flag lapel pin "should be worn on the left lapel near the heart," but this doesn't really apply to your case. Yours is a ribbon, not a lapel pin, and it's part of a grouping of ribbons.

Peter Ansoff