---
kind: "section"
citation: "4 U.S.C. § 6"
title: "4"
title_heading: "Flag and Seal, Seat of Government, and the States"
number: "6"
heading: "Time and occasions for display"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/4/6"
units:
  - "Chapter 1 — The Flag"
---

# §6. Time and occasions for display

- (a) It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed 24 hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
- (b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
- (c) The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all weather flag is displayed.
- (d) The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New Year’s Day, January 1; Inauguration Day, January 20; Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, third Monday in January; Lincoln’s Birthday, February 12; Washington’s Birthday, third Monday in February; National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29; Easter Sunday (variable); Mother’s Day, second Sunday in May; Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May; Memorial Day (half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May; Flag Day, June 14; Father’s Day, third Sunday in June; Independence Day, July 4; National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, July 27; Labor Day, first Monday in September; Constitution Day, September 17; Columbus Day, second Monday in October; Navy Day, October 27; Veterans Day, November 11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November; Christmas Day, December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of the United States; the birthdays of [States](/usc/4/110.md?p=d) (date of admission); and on [State](/usc/4/110.md?p=d) holidays.
- (e) The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution.
- (f) The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election days.
- (g) The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 105–225, § 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1494; amended Pub. L. 106–80, § 1, Oct. 25, 1999, 113 Stat. 1285; Pub. L. 110–239, § 1, June 3, 2008, 122 Stat. 1559; Pub. L. 111–41, § 2, July 27, 2009, 123 Stat. 1962; Pub. L. 115–15, § 2, Mar. 28, 2017, 131 Stat. 79.)

## Notes

| Historical and Revision Notes |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Revised<br>Section | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| 6 | 36:174. | June 22, 1942, ch. 435, § 2, 56 Stat. 378; Dec. 22, 1942, ch. 806, § 2, 56 Stat. 1074; July 7, 1976, Pub. L. 94–344, (2)–(5), 90 Stat. 810. |

In subsection (d), the words “Veterans Day” are substituted for “Armistice Day” because of the Act of June 1, 1954 (ch. 250, 68 Stat. 168).

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2017—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 115–15 inserted “National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29;” after “third Monday in February;”.

2009—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 111–41 inserted “National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, July 27;” after “July 4;”.

2008—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 110–239 inserted “Father’s Day, third Sunday in June;” after “Flag Day, June 14;”.

1999—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 106–80 inserted “Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, third Monday in January;” after “January 20;”.