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Eight Things You Didn’t Know about the American Flag

The American flag in its current format—stars representing the states and stripes representing the thirteen original colonies, all in red, white and blue—was first adopted June 14, 1777. Since then, it’s become an important and inspiring symbol of our country. Aside from its purpose as an emblem of the United States, the flag has certain rules and specifications that come along with its care and display. At Crest Cleaners, we honor the 4^th of July every year by dry cleaning your American flags for free. To go along with this, here are some things you might not have known about the Stars and Stripes, as specified by the U.S. Flag Code.

1. When displayed or flown, the flag should never touch the ground. When flown at night, the flag should be illuminated.
2. Flags should never be thrown out or improperly disposed of. If the flag becomes tattered or worn so that it’s unfit for display, it should be destroyed in a proper fashion, usually by burning. On June 14, which is Flag Day, the American Legion and some other groups will have flag-burning ceremonies. And, though many people believe that a soiled flag must be destroyed, this isn’t accurate; just have it dry cleaned properly and it’ll be fine to display.
3. Flying the flag at half-staff represents mourning. To properly bring the flag to half-staff, it should be raised to full-staff first and then lowered. National, state, and local governments can mandate for their respective areas that the flag be flown half-staff, but private citizens can also choose to fly their own flags at half-staff.
4. Though it’s commonly thought to be illegal to damage or dirty the flag, it would actually be a violation of the First Amendment if this were the case.
5. When not in use, the accepted way to properly fold a flag for storage is in a triangle.
6. In addition to the American flag, each state has its own particular emblem. When state flags are being flown alongside the American flag, though, the Stars and Stripes should always be flown above them, but not above the flags of other nations.
7. Dipping the flag to anyone or anything is considered disrespectful, but flying the flag upside down is meant to convey distress or emergency.
8. Interestingly enough, the flag design isn’t technically supposed to be embroidered or represented on clothing, furniture, or other items. This is often disregarded, though, and it’s never really enforced.

Because of its tremendous historical and contemporary significance, the flag should always be kept clean and fit to fly. We wish you a safe and happy 4th of July, and for those of you living near a Crest location, bring those flags in for a free cleaning.

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