I understand the emotional need some people have to show support for Ukraine by flying a Ukrainian flag, but this...
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Did the U.S. conquer Ukraine in a war? Someone in this town must think so
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...is never appropriate. It is a display of conquest, and last I knew the U.S. had not conquered Ukraine. Not only that, but this is in front of an area municipal building, not someone's yard (although I have seen several of those, too). The flag is at half-staff for the dead diplomatic windbag Madeline Not-Too-Bright. Below is USC 4 Chapter 1 Section 7 "Position and Manner of Display." I have emboldened and italicized paragraph (e) and (g).
§7. Position and manner of display
The flag, when carried in a procession with
another flag or flags, should be either on the marching right; that is,
the flag's own right, or, if there is a line of other flags, in front of
the center of that line.
(a) The flag should not be displayed on a
float in a parade except from a staff, or as provided in subsection (i)
of this section.
(b) The flag should not be draped over the
hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle or of a railroad train or a boat.
When the flag is displayed on a motorcar, the staff shall be fixed
firmly to the chassis or clamped to the right fender.
(c) No other flag or pennant should be placed
above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United
States of America, except during church services conducted by naval
chaplains at sea, when the church pennant may be flown above the flag
during church services for the personnel of the Navy. No person shall
display the flag of the United Nations or any other national or
international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence
or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place
within the United States or any Territory or possession thereof: Provided,
That nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the
practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United
Nations in a position of superior prominence or honor, and other
national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of
the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.
(d) The flag of the United States of America,
when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed
staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff
should be in front of the staff of the other flag.
(e) The flag of the United States of America
should be at the center and at the highest point of the group when a
number of flags of States or localities or pennants of societies are
grouped and displayed from staffs.
(f) When flags of States, cities, or
localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with
the flag of the United States, the latter should always be at the peak.
When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the flag of the United
States should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant
may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the United
States flag's right.
(g) When flags of two or more nations are
displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height.
The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage
forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another
nation in time of peace.
(h) When the flag of the United States is
displayed from a staff projecting horizontally or at an angle from the
window sill, balcony, or front of a building, the union of the flag
should be placed at the peak of the staff unless the flag is at
half-staff. When the flag is suspended over a sidewalk from a rope
extending from a house to a pole at the edge of the sidewalk, the flag
should be hoisted out, union first, from the building.
(i) When displayed either horizontally or
vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the
flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a
window, the flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or
blue field to the left of the observer in the street.
(j) When the flag is displayed over the middle
of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union to the
north in an east and west street or to the east in a north and south
street.
(k) When used on a speaker's platform, the
flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the
speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium,
the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of
superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of
honor at the clergyman's or speaker's right as he faces the audience.
Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the
clergyman or speaker or to the right of the audience.
(l) The flag should form a distinctive feature
of the ceremony of unveiling a statue or monument, but it should never
be used as the covering for the statue or monument.
(m) The flag, when flown at half-staff, should
be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the
half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before
it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed
at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By
order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the
death of principal figures of the United States Government and the
Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to
their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign
dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to
Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized
customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the
death of a present or former official of the government of any State,
territory, or possession of the United States, the death of a member of
the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while
serving on active duty, or the death of a first responder working in
any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving in the line
of duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may
proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the
same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with
respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia,
members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia, and first
responders working in the District of Columbia. When the Governor of a
State, territory, or possession, or the Mayor of the District of
Columbia, issues a proclamation under the preceding sentence that the
National flag be flown at half-staff in that State, territory, or
possession or in the District of Columbia because of the death of a
member of the Armed Forces, the National flag flown at any Federal
installation or facility in the area covered by that proclamation shall
be flown at half-staff consistent with that proclamation. The flag shall
be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a
former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President,
the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or
the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until
interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of
an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the
Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death
and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown
at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also
Armed Forces Day. As used in this subsection—
(1) the term "half-staff" means the
position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top
and bottom of the staff;
(2) the term "executive or military department" means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5;
(3) the term "Member of Congress" means a
Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from
Puerto Rico; and
(4) the term "first responder" means a
"public safety officer" as defined in section 1204 of title I of the
Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284).
(n) When the flag is used to cover a casket,
it should be so placed that the union is at the head and over the left
shoulder. The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to
touch the ground.
(o) When the flag is suspended across a
corridor or lobby in a building with only one main entrance, it should
be suspended vertically with the union of the flag to the observer's
left upon entering. If the building has more than one main entrance, the
flag should be suspended vertically near the center of the corridor or
lobby with the union to the north, when entrances are to the east and
west or to the east when entrances are to the north and south. If there
are entrances in more than two directions, the union should be to the
east.
Improper display and handling of MY FLAG irks me to no end. At my own home, my flag flies on a lit pole 7/24/365, except in extreme windy wet weather. That shit will shred any flag to pieces. When I take it down for an impending storm, it is handled with reverence and laid out with respect to dry.
So, yeah... you wanna show your support for the Ukrainians and disdain for Mother Russia and Putin, be my guest. But don't be insulting to those you wish to support, you look pretty stupid.
