---
kind: "section"
citation: "36 U.S.C. § 509"
title: "36"
title_heading: "Patriotic and National Observances, Ceremonies, and Organizations"
number: "509"
heading: "Penalty"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/36/509"
units:
  - "Subtitle I — Patriotic and National Observances and Ceremonies"
  - "Part A — Observances and Ceremonies"
  - "Chapter 5 — Presidential Inaugural Ceremonies"
---

# §509. Penalty


A person violating a regulation prescribed under this chapter shall be fined under [title 18](/usc/18.md) or imprisoned for not more than 30 days. A separate violation occurs under this section for each day the violation continues.


## Source credit

(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1265.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 509 | 36:728 (3d, last sentences). | Aug. 6, 1956, ch. 974, § 8 (3d, last sentences), 70 Stat. 1051; Jan. 30, 1968, Pub. L. 90–251, § 3, 82 Stat. 4. |

The words “by the Council of the District of Columbia” and “the authority of” are omitted as unnecessary. The words “under title 18” are substituted for “not more than $100” for consistency with title 18. The words “A separate violation occurs under this section for each day the violation continues” are substituted for 36:728 (last sentence) for consistency in the revised title and with other titles of the United States Code and to eliminate unnecessary words.