Today, June 14, is Flag Day. Flag Day was first celebrated in Connecticut
in 1861, nationally recognized by President Wilson in 1916 and finally
established by Congress as a national holiday in 1949 (36
U.S.C. § 110).
Although Flag Day is not a federal holiday, the Federal
government encourages
Americans to celebrate the occasion: “Americans are encouraged to display the
flag outside their homes and businesses on this day to honor the history and
heritage the American flag represents.”
For those who wish to do so, the proper manner of displaying the flag is
laid out in 4 U.S.C. §§
1-10, known as the Federal Flag Code. This report and FAQ
by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) reviews the Flag Code and answers a
few popular questions about them.
But don’t let fear of an accidental code violation keep you
from displaying a flag: there is no statutory penalty for a private citizen in violation
of the Flag Code, and the Supreme Court has ruled that violations of the Flag
Code may be protected as political speech, most notably in Texas
v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989), and United
States v. Eichman, 496 U.S. 310 (1990).
Anyone interested in a detailed review of the Supreme Court’s treatment
of flag protections may find one in CRS Report 95-709.
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