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This -seems- like the most suitable forum...

...what are the rules concerning the display of an obsolete (that is, bearing fewer than fifty stars, so pre-August 1959) US flag? If the flag is in good physical condition, are there any issues concerning flying it?

The Flag Regulations I've found cover the disposal of old, worn out flags but have nothing to say about the display of obsolete ones in good condition.

Displaying it by itself is fine but it should be subservient (lower) in the presence of a current American flag. I've not seen a flag flying by itself (Except the Confederate flag) but I've seen the stars and bars flying at historical cites but always in the presence of a current American flag.

I'd question why you'd want to fly it instead of displaying it in such a fashion as to preserve it, though, if it is a genuine, historical flag as opposed to a modern recreation of one. The problem is that weather can really tear through it, while if you put it in a good display frame or something, it will be with you for a very long time.

Unless it is fucking gigantic and precludes a decent home display. But, still, I'd go for preservation rather than flying it.

It's a question arising from a conversation elsewhere. I don't actually have a historic flag in hand that I want to fly.

It depends on the situation, donnit? I mean, if it is just a reproduction of an old flag for your house than just fly it like you normally would. That's what my parents have, as a matter of fact. If it is for a public place, or a flagpole with multiple flags, or if it is a genuine antique, then the situation is a little different.

Given that there are rules for when to fly it, how to fly it, where to fly it, who salutes it, how they salute it, how to fly it in relation to other flags, when to fly it at full staff, when to fly it at half staff, how to run it up the staff, how to run it down the staff, when to dispose of it, how to dispose of it...it seemed like just maybe there may some relatively obscure standards concerning which version should be flown when, or where, or even if. That's all.

Ft. McHenry and the USS Constitution, I believe, fly the 15-star/stripe flag for historical authenticity, so that would seem to provide one context for the display of past U.S. flags.

I have seen plenty of private residences using older flags (especially 13-star ones), and nobody was getting fined or anything.

It's not really about getting -fined-, since I constantly see the flag being flown un-illuminated at night, in the rain, being permitted to touch the ground when run down, being improperly folded, being inappropriately flown at half-staff, etc, and no one gets in trouble (not that I want them to, or anything...)

It's just a question about what's -in- the rules, not penalties for not -following- them. Those rules seem pretty much universally un-enforced anyway.

Ziggy Stardust wrote:I have seen plenty of private residences using older flags (especially 13-star ones), and nobody was getting fined or anything.

The Flag Code of the US is completely and utterly unofficial and has about as much legal bearing as the rules for Monopoly.

Handily explaining the lack of enforcement.

*bzzzzttt* wrong. The Flag Code is part of the US Code, meaning federal law. It's toothless, however, in that it has no penalties whatsoever for failure to obey the law. See Cornell's website for more details. It's arguably unconstitutional to proscribe a penalty for not following it (first amendment concerns).