What do the photographs below of our National Flag being flown in I’On have in common? They are flying the flag the right way! If you are figuring out where and how to fly our National Flag at your new home, please take a few minutes to read the following (based on the US Flag Code) as it relates to properly displaying the Stars & Stripes.
In the first photo (113 N. Shelmore), the owner’s have placed the National Flag properly in relation to another flag, i.e. if you are looking at the flags from outside the house, then the U.S. flag will be to the left. (If you are standing at your door looking out, the U.S. flag would be on your right). Be sure to follow this rule anytime you fly the National Flag with any other flag or pennant. The ‘audience’ or passersby would always see the US flag on the left.
In the second photo (166 N. Shelmore), the owners have done everything correctly. 
They put the National Flag on top, where it should be, when flown on a single staff with another flag or pennant. Also the flag was being flown at half mast to honor President Ronald Reagan this day. Remember that only the president of the United States or the governor of a state can order that the flag be flown at half staff.
The third photo (a Ft. Sumter storm
flag, donated to I’Onissimo) is displayed at the Amphitheater to illustrate how to hang the flag against a wall or when suspended vertically from a porch railing. As an easy way to remember it, the ‘audience’ should always see the union (the blue field with white stars) in the upper left corner.
Click here to learn about the history of our giant American Flag donated to I'On by Fort Sumter!
A few flag etiquette tips for all situations:
Ÿ Be sure the flag doesn’t touch anything beneath it such as the ground, floor, or water.
Ÿ Display your flag from dawn to dusk. If property illuminated, the flag may be flown at night. Display your flag only in good weather, unless it is an all-weather flag.
Ÿ Most residential flags are on a fixed staff so you can’t move the flag to half-mast in honor of certain events, and that’s OK. But if your flag can be flown at half-mast, be sure to do so on Pearl Harbor Day (December 7), Peace Officer Memorial Day (May 15), Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (July 27) and Memorial Day (4th Monday in May) when it should be flown at half staff from sunrise until noon, then raised to full staff.
For more details on flag etiquette and interesting flag history, visit www.usflag.org or www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagtiq.html.
KUDOs:
Many thanks to former neighbors Louis & Gaye Joyner for submitting this article to help us all ‘fly right’!
Finally, many thanks to William Hamilton for procuring the Ft. Sumter flag, and to Todd Joye for displaying it on special occasions and concerts at the Amphitheater. It's a beautiful and dramatic sight that we all appreciate so much.
