4 U.S.C. § 4 — Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of

Page 3 TITLE 4—FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES § 4 Standard proportions Hoist (width) of flag 1.0 Fly (length) of flag 1.9 Hoist (width) of Union 0.5385 (7⁄13) Fly (length) of Union 0.76 0.054 0.054 0.063 0.063 Diameter of star 0.0616 Width of stripe 0.0769 (1⁄13) A B C D E F G H K L § 2. Same; additional stars On the admission of a new State into the Union one star shall be added to the union of the flag; and such addition shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such ad- mission. (July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642.) § 3. Use of flag for advertising purposes; mutila- tion of flag Any person who, within the District of Colum- bia, in any manner, for exhibition or display, shall place or cause to be placed any word, fig- ure, mark, picture, design, drawing, or any ad- vertisement of any nature upon any flag, stand- ard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America; or shall expose or cause to be exposed to public view any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign upon which shall have been printed, painted, or otherwise placed, or to which shall be attached, appended, affixed, or annexed any word, figure, mark, picture, design, or drawing, or any advertisement of any nature; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall manufac- ture, sell, expose for sale, or to public view, or give away or have in possession for sale, or to be given away or for use for any purpose, any arti- cle or substance being an article of merchandise, or a receptacle for merchandise or article or thing for carrying or transporting merchandise, upon which shall have been printed, painted, at- tached, or otherwise placed a representation of any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign, to ad- vertise, call attention to, decorate, mark, or dis- tinguish the article or substance on which so placed shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $100 or by imprisonment for not more than thir- ty days, or both, in the discretion of the court. The words ‘‘flag, standard, colors, or ensign’’, as used herein, shall include any flag, standard, colors, ensign, or any picture or representation of either, or of any part or parts of either, made of any substance or represented on any sub- stance, of any size evidently purporting to be ei- ther of said flag, standard, colors, or ensign of the United States of America or a picture or a representation of either, upon which shall be shown the colors, the stars and the stripes, in any number of either thereof, or of any part or parts of either, by which the average person see- ing the same without deliberation may believe the same to represent the flag, colors, standard, or ensign of the United States of America. (July 30, 1947, ch. 389, 61 Stat. 642; Pub. L. 90–381, § 3, July 5, 1968, 82 Stat. 291.) Editorial Notes AMENDMENTS 1968—Pub. L. 90–381 struck out ‘‘; or who, within the District of Columbia, shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile or defy, trample upon, or cast contempt, either by word or act, upon any such flag, standard, colors, or ensign,’’ after ‘‘substance on which so placed’’. § 4. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: ‘‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’’, should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform Page 4 TITLE 4—FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES § 4 men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute. Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner pro- vided for persons in uniform. (Added Pub. L. 105–225, § 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1494; amended Pub. L. 107–293, § 2(a), Nov. 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 2060; Pub. L. 113–66, div. A, title V, § 586, Dec. 26, 2013, 127 Stat. 777.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 4 ................ 36:172. June 22, 1942, ch. 435, § 7, 56 Stat. 380; Dec. 22, 1942, ch. 806, § 7, 56 Stat. 1077; Dec. 28, 1945, ch. 607, 59 Stat. 668; June 14, 1954, ch. 297, 68 Stat. 249; July 7, 1976, Pub. L. 94–344, (19), 90 Stat. 813. Editorial Notes CODIFICATION Amendment by Pub. L. 107–293 reaffirmed the exact language of the Pledge, see section 2(b) of Pub. L. 107–293, set out as a Reaffirmation of Language note below. AMENDMENTS 2013—Pub. L. 113–66 inserted at end ‘‘Members of the Armed Forces not in uniform and veterans may render the military salute in the manner provided for persons in uniform.’’ 2002—Pub. L. 107–293 reenacted section catchline without change and amended text generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: ‘‘The Pledge of Alle- giance to the Flag, ‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’, should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.’’ Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries FINDINGS Pub. L. 107–293, § 1, Nov. 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 2057, pro- vided that: ‘‘Congress finds the following: ‘‘(1) On November 11, 1620, prior to embarking for the shores of America, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact that declared: ‘Having under- taken, for the Glory of God and the advancement of the Christian Faith and honor of our King and coun- try, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia,’. ‘‘(2) On July 4, 1776, America’s Founding Fathers, after appealing to the ‘Laws of Nature, and of Na- ture’s God’ to justify their separation from Great Britain, then declared: ‘We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Lib- erty, and the Pursuit of Happiness’. ‘‘(3) In 1781, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and later the Nation’s third President, in his work titled ‘Notes on the State of Virginia’ wrote: ‘God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God. That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I trem- ble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.’ ‘‘(4) On May 14, 1787, George Washington, as Presi- dent of the Constitutional Convention, rose to ad- monish and exhort the delegates and declared: ‘If to please the people we offer what we ourselves dis- approve, how can we afterward defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair; the event is in the hand of God!’ ‘‘(5) On July 21, 1789, on the same day that it ap- proved the Establishment Clause concerning religion, the First Congress of the United States also passed the Northwest Ordinance, providing for a territorial government for lands northwest of the Ohio River, which declared: ‘Religion, morality, and knowledge, being necessary to good government and the happi- ness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged.’ ‘‘(6) On September 25, 1789, the First Congress unanimously approved a resolution calling on Presi- dent George Washington to proclaim a National Day of Thanksgiving for the people of the United States by declaring, ‘a day of public thanksgiving and pray- er, to be observed by acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the many signal favors of Almighty God, espe- cially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a constitution of government for their safe- ty and happiness.’ ‘‘(7) On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lin- coln delivered his Gettysburg Address on the site of the battle and declared: ‘It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full meas- ure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this Na- tion, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.’ ‘‘(8) On April 28, 1952, in the decision of the Su- preme Court of the United States in Zorach v. Clauson, 343 U.S. 306 (1952), in which school children were allowed to be excused from public schools for re- ligious observances and education, Justice William O. Douglas, in writing for the Court stated: ‘The First Amendment, however, does not say that in every and all respects there shall be a separation of Church and State. Rather, it studiously defines the manner, the specific ways, in which there shall be no concern or union or dependency one on the other. That is the common sense of the matter. Otherwise the State and religion would be aliens to each other—hostile, sus- picious, and even unfriendly. Churches could not be required to pay even property taxes. Municipalities would not be permitted to render police or fire pro- tection to religious groups. Policemen who helped pa- rishioners into their places of worship would violate the Constitution. Prayers in our legislative halls; the appeals to the Almighty in the messages of the Chief Executive; the proclamations making Thanksgiving Day a holiday; ‘‘so help me God’’ in our courtroom oaths—these and all other references to the Almighty that run through our laws, our public rituals, our ceremonies would be flouting the First Amendment. A fastidious atheist or agnostic could even object to the supplication with which the Court opens each ses- sion: ‘‘God save the United States and this Honorable Court.’’ ’ ‘‘(9) On June 15, 1954, Congress passed and President Eisenhower signed into law a statute that was clearly consistent with the text and intent of the Constitu- tion of the United States, that amended the Pledge of Allegiance to read: ‘I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’ Page 5 TITLE 4—FLAG AND SEAL, SEAT OF GOVERNMENT, AND THE STATES § 5 ‘‘(10) On July 20, 1956, Congress proclaimed that the national motto of the United States is ‘In God We Trust’, and that motto is inscribed above the main door of the Senate, behind the Chair of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and on the currency of the United States. ‘‘(11) On June 17, 1963, in the decision of the Su- preme Court of the United States in Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963), in which com- pulsory school prayer was held unconstitutional, Jus- tices Goldberg and Harlan, concurring in the deci- sion, stated: ‘But untutored devotion to the concept of neutrality can lead to invocation or approval of re- sults which partake not simply of that noninter- ference and noninvolvement with the religious which the Constitution commands, but of a brooding and pervasive devotion to the secular and a passive, or even active, hostility to the religious. Such results are not only not compelled by the Constitution, but, it seems to me, are prohibited by it. Neither govern- ment nor this Court can or should ignore the signifi- cance of the fact that a vast portion of our people be- lieve in and worship God and that many of our legal, political, and personal values derive historically from religious teachings. Government must inevitably take cognizance of the existence of religion and, in- deed, under certain circumstances the First Amend- ment may require that it do so.’ ‘‘(12) On March 5, 1984, in the decision of the Su- preme Court of the United States in Lynch v. Donelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984), in which a city govern- ment’s display of a nativity scene was held to be con- stitutional, Chief Justice Burger, writing for the Court, stated: ‘There is an unbroken history of offi- cial acknowledgment by all three branches of govern- ment of the role of religion in American life from at least 1789 . . . [E]xamples of reference to our reli- gious heritage are found in the statutorily prescribed national motto ‘‘In God We Trust’’ (36 U.S.C. 186) [now 36 U.S.C. 302], which Congress and the President mandated for our currency, see (31 U.S.C. 5112(d)(1) (1982 ed.)), and in the language ‘‘One Nation under God’’, as part of the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. That pledge is recited by many thou- sands of public school children—and adults—every year . . . Art galleries supported by public revenues display religious paintings of the 15th and 16th cen- turies, predominantly inspired by one religious faith. The National Gallery in Washington, maintained with Government support, for example, has long ex- hibited masterpieces with religious messages, nota- bly the Last Supper, and paintings depicting the Birth of Christ, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrec- tion, among many others with explicit Christian themes and messages. The very chamber in which oral arguments on this case were heard is decorated with a notable and permanent—not seasonal—symbol of religion: Moses with the Ten Commandments. Con- gress has long provided chapels in the Capitol for reli- gious worship and meditation.’ ‘‘(13) On June 4, 1985, in the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985), in which a mandatory moment of si- lence to be used for meditation or voluntary prayer was held unconstitutional, Justice O’Connor, concur- ring in the judgment and addressing the contention that the Court’s holding would render the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because Congress amend- ed it in 1954 to add the words ‘under God,’ stated ‘In my view, the words ‘‘under God’’ in the Pledge, as codified at (36 U.S.C. 172) [now 4 U.S.C. 4], serve as an acknowledgment of religion with ‘‘the legitimate sec- ular purposes of solemnizing public occasions, [and] expressing confidence in the future.’’ ’ ‘‘(14) On November 20, 1992, the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, in Sherman v. Commu- nity Consolidated School District 21, 980 F.2d 437 (7th Cir. 1992), held that a school district’s policy for vol- untary recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance includ- ing the words ‘under God’ was constitutional. ‘‘(15) The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals erroneously held, in Newdow v. U.S. Congress (9th Cir. June 26, 2002), that the Pledge of Allegiance’s use of the ex- press religious reference ‘under God’ violates the First Amendment to the Constitution, and that, therefore, a school district’s policy and practice of teacher-led voluntary recitations of the Pledge of Al- legiance is unconstitutional. ‘‘(16) The erroneous rationale of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in Newdow would lead to the absurd result that the Constitution’s use of the express reli- gious reference ‘Year of our Lord’ in Article VII vio- lates the First Amendment to the Constitution, and that, therefore, a school district’s policy and practice of teacher-led voluntary recitations of the Constitu- tion itself would be unconstitutional.’’ REAFFIRMATION OF LANGUAGE Pub. L. 107–293, § 2(b), Nov. 13, 2002, 116 Stat. 2060, pro- vided that: ‘‘In codifying this subsection [probably should be ‘‘section’’, meaning section 2 of Pub. L. 107–293, which amended this section], the Office of the Law Revision Counsel shall show in the historical and statutory notes that the 107th Congress reaffirmed the exact language that has appeared in the Pledge for dec- ades.’’ § 5. Display and use of flag by civilians; codifica- tion of rules and customs; definition The following codification of existing rules and customs pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America is es- tablished for the use of such civilians or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Govern- ment of the United States. The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be defined according to sections 1 and 2 of this title and Executive Order 10834 issued pur- suant thereto. (Added Pub. L. 105–225, § 2(a), Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1494.) HISTORICAL AND REVISION NOTES Revised Section Source (U.S. Code) Source (Statutes at Large) 5 ................ 36:173. June 22, 1942, ch. 435, § 1, 56 Stat. 377; Dec. 22, 1942, ch. 806, § 1, 56 Stat. 1074; July 7, 1976, Pub. L. 94–344, (1), 90 Stat. 810. Editorial Notes REFERENCES IN TEXT Executive Order 10834, referred to in text, is set out as a note under section 1 of this title. Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries FREEDOM TO DISPLAY THE AMERICAN FLAG Pub. L. 109–243, July 24, 2006, 120 Stat. 572, provided that: ‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. ‘‘This Act may be cited as the ‘Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005’. ‘‘SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. ‘‘For purposes of this Act— ‘‘(1) the term ‘flag of the United States’ has the meaning given the term ‘flag, standard, colors, or en- sign’ under section 3 of title 4, United States Code; ‘‘(2) the terms ‘condominium association’ and ‘co- operative association’ have the meanings given such