Title 4
Title 4
Title 4
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TITLE 4-FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES
This title was enacted by act July 30, 1947, ch. 389, §1, 61 Stat. 641
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS
1951 -Act Oct. 31, 1951, ch. 655, §11, 65 Stat. 713, added item for chapter 5.
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
POSITIVE LAW; CITATION
This title has been made positive law by section 1 of act July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 641, which provided in part that: "title 4 of the United States Code, entitled 'Flag and seal, Seat of Government, and the States', is codified and enacted into positive law and may be cited as '4 U. S. C., §-' ".
REPEALS
Section 2 of act July 30, 1947, provided that the sections or parts thereof of the Statutes at Large or the Revised Statutes covering provisions codified in this Act are repealed insofar as the provisions appeared in former Title 4, and provided that any rights or liabilities now existing under the repealed sections or parts thereof shall not be affected by the repeal.
- Modification of rules and customs by President. 10.
- Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag. 9.
- Respect for flag. 8.
- Position and manner of display. 7.
- Time and occasions for display. 6.
- Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules and customs; definition. 5.
- Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery. 4.
- Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag. 3.
- Same; additional stars. 2.
- Flag; stripes and stars on. 1.
CHAPTER 1-THE FLAG
Sec.
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS
1998 -Pub. L. 105-225, §2(b), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1498, added items 4 to 10.
§1. Flag; stripes and stars on
The flag of the United States shall be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; and the union of the flag shall be forty-eight stars, white in a blue field.
(July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642.)
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
SHORT TITLE OF 2018 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 115-123, div. A, §10101, Feb. 9, 2018, 132 Stat. 64, provided that: "This division [amending section 7 of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note under section 7 of this title] may be cited as the 'Honoring Hometown Heroes Act'."
SHORT TITLE OF 2017 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 115-15, §1, Mar. 28, 2017, 131 Stat. 79, provided that: "This Act [amending section 6 of this title] may be cited as the 'Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017'."
SHORT TITLE OF 2009 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 111-41, §1, July 27, 2009, 123 Stat. 1962, provided that: "This Act [amending section 6 of this title] may be cited as the 'Korean War Veterans Recognition Act'."
SHORT TITLE OF 2007 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 110-41, §1, June 29, 2007, 121 Stat. 233, provided that: "This Act [amending section 7 of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 7 of this title] may be cited as the 'Army Specialist Joseph P. Micks Federal Flag Code Amendment Act of 2007'."
SHORT TITLE OF 2000 AMENDMENT
Pub. L. 106-252, §1, July 28, 2000, 114 Stat. 626, provided that: "This Act [enacting sections 116 to 126 of this title and provisions set out as a note under section 116 of this title] may be cited as the 'Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act'."
EXECUTIVE DOCUMENTS
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 10798
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Ex. Ord. No. 10798, Jan. 3, 1959, 24 F.R. 79, which prescribed proportions and sizes of flags until July 4, 1960, was revoked by section 33 of Ex. Ord. No. 10834, set out as a note under this section.
EX. ORD. NO. 10834. PROPORTIONS AND SIZES OF FLAGS AND POSITION OF STARS
Ex. Ord. No. 10834, Aug. 21, 1959, 24 F.R. 6865, provided:
WHEREAS the State of Hawaii has this day been admitted into the Union; and
WHEREAS section 2 of title 4 of the United States Code provides as follows: "On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission."; and
WHEREAS the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (63 Stat. 377), as amended [see chapters 1 to 11 of Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and Works, and division C (except sections 3302, 3307(e), 3501(b), 3509, 3906, 4710, and 4711) of subtitle I of Title 41, Public Contracts] authorizes the President to prescribe policies and directives governing the procurement and utilization of property by executive agencies; and
WHEREAS the interests of the Government require that orderly and reasonable provision be made for various matters pertaining to the flag and that appropriate regulations governing the procurement and utilization of national flags and union jacks by executive agencies be prescribed:
NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the armed forces of the United States, and the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as amended [see Short Title of 1949 Act note under section 101 of Title 41, Public Contracts], it is hereby ordered as follows:
PART I-DESIGN OF THE FLAG
SECTION 1. The flag of the United States shall have thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white, and a union consisting of white stars on a field of blue.
SEC. 2. The positions of the stars in the union of the flag and in the union jack shall be as indicated on the attachment to this order, which is hereby made a part of this order.
SEC. 3. The dimensions of the constituent parts of the flag shall conform to the proportions set forth in the attachment referred to in section 2 of this order.
PART II-REGULATIONS GOVERNING EXECUTIVE AGENCIES
SEC. 21. The following sizes of flags are authorized for executive agencies:
SEC. 22. Flags manufactured or purchased for the use of executive agencies:
(b) Shall conform to the provisions of section 21 of this order, except as may be otherwise authorized pursuant to the provisions of section 24 of this order.
SEC. 23. The exterior dimensions of each union jack manufactured or purchased for executive agencies
shall equal the respective exterior dimensions of the union of a flag of a size authorized by or pursuant to this order. The size of the union jack flown with the national flag shall be the same as the size of the union of that national flag.
SEC. 24. (a) The Secretary of Defense in respect of procurement for the Department of Defense (including military colors) and the Administrator of General Services in respect of procurement for executive agencies other than the Department of Defense may, for cause which the Secretary or the Administrator, as the case may be, deems sufficient, make necessary minor adjustments in one or more of the dimensions or proportionate dimensions prescribed by this order, or authorize proportions or sizes other than those prescribed by section 3 or section 21 of this order.
(b) So far as practicable, (1) the actions of the Secretary of Defense under the provisions of section 24(a) of this order, as they relate to the various organizational elements of the Department of Defense, shall be coordinated, and (2) the Secretary and the Administrator shall mutually coordinate their actions under that section.
SEC. 25. Subject to such limited exceptions as the Secretary of Defense in respect of the Department of Defense, and the Administrator of General Services in respect of executive agencies other than the Department of Defense, may approve, all national flags and union jacks now in the possession of executive agencies, or hereafter acquired by executive agencies under contracts awarded prior to the date of this order, including those so possessed or so acquired by the General Services Administration, for distribution to other agencies, shall be utilized until unserviceable.
PART III-GENERAL PROVISIONS
SEC. 31. The flag prescribed by Executive Order No. 10798 of January 3, 1959, shall be the official flag of the United States until July 4, 1960, and on that date the flag prescribed by Part I of this order shall become the official flag of the United States; but this section shall neither derogate from section 24 or section 25 of this order nor preclude the procurement, for executive agencies, of flags provided for by or pursuant to this order at any time after the date of this order.
SEC. 32. As used in this order, the term "executive agencies" means the executive departments and independent establishments in the executive branch of the Government, including wholly-owned Government corporations.
SEC. 33. Executive Order No. 10798 of January 3, 1959, is hereby revoked.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER.
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§2. Same; additional stars
On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission. (July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642.)
§3. Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutilation of flag
Any person who, within the District of Columbia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any advertisement of any nature upon any flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any article or substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, attached, or otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to advertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or distinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thirty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. The words "flag, standard, colors, or ensign", as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any substance, of any size evidently purporting to be either of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person seeing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America.
(July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642; Pub. L. 90-381, §3, July 5, 1968, 82 Stat. 291.)
EDITORIAL NOTES
AMENDMENTS
1968 -Pub. L. 90-381 struck out "; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile or defy, trample upon, or cast contempt, either by word or act, upon any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign," after "substance on which so placed".
§4. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery
The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over
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the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.
(Added Pub. L. 105-225, §2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1494; amended Pub. L. 107-293, §2(a), Nov. 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 2060; Pub. L. 113-66, div. A, title V, §586, Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 777.)
HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES
EDITORIAL NOTES
CODIFICATION
Amendment by Pub. L. 107-293 reaffirmed the exact language of the Pledge, see section 2(b) of Pub. L. 107-293, set out as a Reaffirmation of Language note below.
AMENDMENTS
2013 -Pub. L. 113-66 inserted at end "Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform."
2002 -Pub. L. 107-293 reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, 'I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.', should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute."
STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES
FINDINGS
Pub. L. 107-293, §1, Nov. 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 2057, provided that: "Congress finds the following:
"(1) On November 11, 1620, prior to embarking for the shores of America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact that declared: 'Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith and honor of our King and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia,'.
"(2) On July 4, 1776, America's Founding Fathers, after appealing to the 'Laws of Nature, and of Nature's God' to justify their separation from Great Britain, then declared: 'We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness'.
"(3) In 1781, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and later the Nation's third President, in his work titled 'Notes on the State of Virginia' wrote: 'God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God. That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.'
"(4) On May 14, 1787, George Washington, as President of the Constitutional Convention, rose to admonish and exhort the delegates and declared: 'If to please the people we offer what we ourselves