05/20/2020

Flying the American Flag on Memorial Day

The first Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day because folks decorated graves, was May 30, 1868, and was designed to recognize the sacrifices made by soldiers that fought in the Civil War. In 1873, New York designated Memorial Day a legal holiday, and by the late 1800’s, several other states followed suit. After WWI, it became a day known for honoring all those that had died in America’s wars, and in 1971, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. This established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May.

On Memorial Day, many Americans fly their American Flags as a way to honor and show respect to those that have served and sacrificed for our freedom. Did you know that there are special rules for flying your Flag on Memorial Day?

How to Properly Fly Your American Flag on Memorial Day.

• Raise your Flag quickly to a full-staff position, then lower it slowly to half-staff.
• Leave it at half-staff from sunrise until noon to honor those that have fallen in service to our country.
• Quickly raise the Flag to full staff at noon to honor our living military Veterans.
• Leave the Flag at full staff until sunset.
• Remember, when the American Flag is flown at half-staff, all other flags should either be removed or flown at half-staff also.
• If your Flag cannot be lowered, you may attach a black ribbon to the top of the pole, just below the ornament at the end of the pole. The ribbon needs to be the same width as a stripe on the Flag and the same length as the Flag.
• If your Flag is mounted on the wall, you may attach three black bows spaced evenly at the top edge of the Flag.

Flying an American Flag is a wonderful way to honor both our country and those that have served. Another way to show honor is to keep your American Flag looking bright and strong, and the best way to do that is to clean it regularly. But that’s not something you need to worry about because A Cleaner World cleans American Flags for free -- every single day. So, if you have a flag that needs special attention, just drop it off at one of our locations, and we will have it looking bright and strong again in no time.