Hang Your American Flag With Style and Etiquette

The afternoon before my house burned down, I was thinking about flags. It was the end of June, and we had been in the middle of painting our house’s exterior. The front and back and one side have been completed, and that I was closing in about the fourth. It seemed so fresh and bright, and I couldn’t wait to fly a flag or 2, or 20, for the upcoming Independence Day. I was debating what would seem best, but the fire took good care of all that.

We moved back into our new house nearly a year to the day after the fire, however again right before the beginning of July. I was so exhausted that flags were the last thing on my mind, but yet another year then, I couldn’t wait. I’d always loved the look of flags, but it was a means for me to earn a concrete announcement that our family was still home and “still there.”

Alison Hodgson

After great deliberation I decided to hang a 3- by 6-foot pleated fan above our front porch and to line the walkway with 12- by 18-inch flags on sticks. I figured I needed about 10 but managed to find just eight. That is what it seemed like last Memorial Day, and that I believed it was a fantastic start. For the beginning of July, I bought a few more to fill in the path and realized I had enough to go down one side of the drive, and then I bought a lot more to line equally. We had our annual Fourth of July celebration, along with the flags appeared so beautiful and merry I was sad to package them away. I pulled them out for the election in November and intended to one last time do it for Veteran’s Day, but a friend asked if she could borrow them to welcome her son home from Afghanistan, and I was more than pleased to share.

Whether you’re hanging a flag to commemorate or to celebrate, here are few rules of flag etiquette along with some style considerations.

Ronald F. DiMauro Architects, Inc..

If you’re fortunate enough to have a flagpole, you may already know it’s not necessary to reduce your flag every night as long as it’s illuminated; however, the flag ought to be taken out in inclement weather. There are a couple of days when it’s recommended to fly the flag at half staff: May 15, that is Peace Officers Memorial Day; September 11; the Sunday of Fire Prevention Week (early October); and December 7, that is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. For Memorial Day it’s advocated the flag be flown at half staff from sunrise until noon. Other days are occasionally added too; see the Half Staff American Flag Notifications site for updates.

Polhemus Savery DaSilva

Designs for Living

A solitary flag on a porch post is a simple and classic style for any house.

Mary Prince Photography

Over the front door is a fantastic alternative.

Logan’s Hammer Building & Renovation

Priester’s Custom LLC

When displaying more than one flag, the U.S. flag ought to be flown into the viewer’s left, as shown.

Christian Gladu Design

This screen is ideal with the gorgeous symmetry of this house’s architecture.

If you decide to suspend a flag, whether vertically or horizontally, make certain the marriage (the starry part) is in the top left, like this …

Pottery Barn

Painted American Flag – $159

… or even this.

Keep Smiling Home

With enthusiasts and bunting, the matter is style instead of code.

Dewson Construction Company

The most important consideration is scale.

Together with the intricate trim on this porch, the message appears to be “more is more.” As I am a flag maximalist, my preference would be to pump up the dimensions of these flags on the columns and line the whole balcony with fans.

Sara Bates

I love everything here: the 2 flags displayed on the third story, the gorgeous hanging basket and window boxes, along with the fencing covered with fans.

Grant and Power Landscaping

Don’t worry if reddish flowers aren’t your style. You don’t need to fit your hanging baskets or planters with all the flag; it goes with everything.

Studio 1030 Architects

You might need to look twice to see it, but there above the garage is a metallic and modern take on the stars and stripes.

A simple and affordable way to begin is with a few handheld flags stuck into planters, and that may be the ideal amount.

Alison Hodgson

Following is a picture of my 30-plus flags on Election Day last fall.

This season I am debating smaller fans hung out of the tops of my windows, and I am projecting my ideas into the patio and pool area too.

Ehrenclou Architects

Tell us : How and when would you display the flag? If you’re a er from outside the U.S., what exactly are your flag customs?

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