10.1 PRSR 05-08-2019
The Elk River Vision
A welcoming community with revolutionary and spirited resourcefulness, exceptional
service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity
Request for Action
To
Parks and Recreation Commission
Item Number
10.1
Agenda Section
Work Session
Meeting Date
May 6, 2019
Prepared by
Michael Hecker, Parks and Recreation Director
Item Description
Flag Poles
Reviewed by
Cal Portner, City Administrator
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Discussion
Background/Discussion
In March, the Parks and Recreation Commission discussed the addition of a flag pole for the American
Legion Post Memorial Day event at Rivers Edge Commons Park. The consensus was to wait and see
how the event goes at the park since it was the first year.
Staff discussed with HKGi, the architects of Rivers Edge Commons Park, possible locations for a
flagpole. The recommended location, based on future park development (i.e. dock) and the elevation
variances throughout the park, for a 40-foot pole at ground/stage level was between the gazebo and the
dedication plaque.
Questions for the Commission to discuss:
Do we want flag poles in city parks?
If so, which parks?
When would they be utilized?
How many poles? (MN, city, U.S. flag?)
Should they be lighted?
If not, are we comfortable with the service level change? (staffing for raise/lower, inspection,
replacement, etc.)
Financial Impact
N/A
Attachments
United States Code for flags and patriotic customs
Recommended Flag Pole Location at Rivers Edge Commons Park
UNITED STATES CODE
TITLE 36
CHAPTER 10
PATRIOTIC CUSTOMS
• § 170. National anthem; Star-Spangled Banner.
• § 171. Conduct during playing.
• § 172. Pledge of allegiance to the flag; manner of delivery.
• § 173. Display and use of flag by civilians; codification of rules and customs;
definition.
• § 174. Time and occasions for display.
• § 175. Position and manner of display.
• § 176. Respect for flag.
• § 177. Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag.
• § 178. Modification of rules and customs by President.
• § 179. Design for service flag; persons entitled to display flag.
• § 180. Design for service lapel button; persons entitled to wear button.
• § 181. Approval of designs by Secretary of Defense; license tomanufacture and
sell; penalties.
• § 182. Rules and regulations.
• § 182a to 184. Repealed.
• § 185. Transferred.
• § 186. National motto.
• § 187. National floral emblem.
• § 188. National march.
• § 189. Recognition of National League of Families POW/MIA flag.
§170. National anthem; Star-Spangled Banner
The composition consisting of the words and music known as The Star-Spangled Banner
is designated the national anthem of the United States of America.
§171. Conduct during playing
During rendition of the national anthem when the flag is displayed, all present except
those in uniform should stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the
heart. Men not in uniform 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 render the
military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note.
When the flag is not displayed, those present should face toward the music and act in the
same manner they would if the flag were displayed there.
§172. 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 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.
§173. Display and use of flag by civilians; codification 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 established 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 Government 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 title 4 and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant
thereto.
§174. Time and occasions for display
• (a) Display on buildings and stationary flagstaffs in open; night display
It is the universal custom to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on
buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic
effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly
illuminated during the hours of darkness.
• (b) Manner of hoisting
The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
• (c) Inclement weather
The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except
when an all weather flag is displayed.
• (d) Particular days of display
The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on New Year's Day, January
1; Inauguration Day, January 20; Lincoln's Birthday, February 12; Washington's
Birthday, third Monday in February; Easter Sunday (variable); Mother's Day,
second Sunday in May; Armed Forces Day, third Saturday in May; Memorial Day
(half-staff until noon), the last Monday in May; Flag Day, June 14; Independence
Day, July 4; Labor Day, first Monday in September; Constitution Day, September
17; Columbus Day, second Monday in October; Navy Day, October 27; Veterans
Day, November 11; Thanksgiving Day, fourth Thursday in November; Christmas
Day, December 25; and such other days as may be proclaimed by the President of
the United States; the birthdays of States (date of admission); and on State
holidays.
• (e) Display on or near administration building of public institutions
The flag should be displayed daily on or near the main administration building of
every public institution.
• (f) Display in or near polling places
The flag should be displayed in or near every polling place on election days.
• (g) Display in or near schoolhouses
The flag should be displayed during school days in or near every schoolhouse.
§175. 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 Governor of that State, territory, or possession may
proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff. The flag shall be flown
at half-staff thirty days from the death of the President or a former President; ten
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. As used in this subsection
-
o (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;
o (2) the term 'executive or military department' means any agency listed
under sections 101 and 102 of title 5; and
o (3) the term 'Member of Congress' means a Senator, a Representative, a
Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.
• (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.
§176. Respect for flag
No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag
should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and
organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.
• (a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of
dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
• (b) The flag should never touch anything beneath it, such as the ground, the floor,
water, or merchandise.
• (c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.
• (d) The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It
should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to
fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the
white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's
desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
• (e) The flag should never be fastened, displayed, used, or stored in such a manner
as to permit it to be easily torn, soiled, or damaged in any way.
• (f) The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
• (g) The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached
to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any
nature.
• (h) The flag should never be used as a receptacle for receiving, holding, carrying,
or delivering anything.
• (i) The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner
whatsoever. It should not be embroidered on such articles as cushions or
handkerchiefs and the like, printed or otherwise impressed on paper napkins or
boxes or anything that is designed for temporary use and discard. Advertising
signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown.
• (j) No part of the flag should ever be used as a costume or athletic uniform.
However, a flag patch may be affixed to the uniform of military personnel,
firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations. The flag represents a
living country and is itself considered a living thing. Therefore, the lapel flag pin
being a replica, should be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
• (k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for
display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.
§177. Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag
During the ceremony of hoisting or lowering the flag or when the flag is passing in a
parade or in review, all persons present except those in uniform should face the flag and
stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. Those present in uniform should
render the military salute. 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. Aliens
should stand at attention. The salute to the flag in a moving column should be rendered at
the moment the flag passes.
§178. Modification of rules and customs by President
Any rule or custom pertaining to the display of the flag of the United States of America,
set forth herein, may be altered, modified, or repealed, or additional rules with respect
thereto may be prescribed, by the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the
United States, whenever he deems it to be appropriate or desirable; and any such
alteration or additional rule shall be set forth in a proclamation.
§179. Design for service flag; persons entitled to display flag
The Secretary of Defense is authorized and directed to approve a design for a service
flag, which flag may be displayed in a window of the place of residence of persons who
are members of the immediate family of a person serving in the armed forces of the
United States during any period of war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the
United States may be engaged.
§180. Design for service lapel button; persons entitled to wear button
The Secretary of Defense is also authorized and directed to approve a design for a service
lapel button, which button may be worn by members of the immediate family of a person
serving in the armed forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities in
which the Armed Forces of the United States may be engaged.
§181. Approval of designs by Secretary of Defense; license to manufacture and sell;
penalties
Upon the approval by the Secretary of Defense of the design for such service flag and
service lapel button, he shall cause notice thereof, together with a description of the
approved flag and button, to be published in the Federal Register. Thereafter any person
may apply to the Secretary of Defense for a license to manufacture and sell the approved
service flag, or the approved service lapel button, or both. Any person, firm, or
corporation who manufactures any such service flag or service lapel button without
having first obtained such a license, or otherwise violates sections 179 to 182 of this title,
shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined not more than $1,000.
§182. Rules and regulations
The Secretary of Defense is authorized to make such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of sections 179 to 182 of this title.
§182a to 182d. Repealed. Pub. L. 89-534, § 2, Aug. 11, 1966, 80 Stat. 345
§183, 184. Repealed. Pub. L. 85-857, § 14(84), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1272
§185. Transferred
§186. National motto
The national motto of the United States is declared to be 'In God we trust.'
§187. National floral emblem
The flower commonly known as the rose is designated and adopted as the national floral
emblem of the United States of America, and the President of the United States is
authorized and requested to declare such fact by proclamation.
§188. National march
The composition by John Philip Sousa entitled 'The Stars and Stripes Forever' is hereby
designated as the national march of the United States of America.
§189. Recognition of National League of Families POW/MIA flag
The National League of Families POW/MIA flag is hereby recognized officially and designated
as the symbol of our Nation's concern and commitment to resolving as fully as possible the fates
of Americans still prisoner, missing and unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, thus ending the
uncertainty for their families and the Nation
Manufacturer Recommendations
Recommended Flagpole Size in Relation to Building Height
Pole
Sized
Height of the
Building Flag Size
15' 3 x 5 Feet
20' 1 to 2 Stories 3 x 5 Feet
25' 2 to 3 Stories 4 x 6 Feet
30' 3 to 5 Stories 5 x 8 Feet
35' 5 to 7 Stories 6 x 10 Feet
40' 8 to 10 Stories 8 x 12 Feet
45' 8 to 10 Stories 8 x 12 Feet
50' 10 to 15 Stories 10 x 15
Feet
60' 15+ Stories 12 x 18
Feet
65' 15+ Stories 12 x 18
Feet
70' 15+ Stories 15 x 25
Feet
Recommended Flag Size in Relation to Flagpole Height
Home Use Public display (not home-use)
flagpole flag flagpole flag flagpole flag
15' 3'x5' 20' 4'x6' 50' 8x12'-10x15'
20' 3'x5' 25' 5'x8' 60'-65' 10'x15'-10'x19'
25' 4'x6' 30'-35' 6'x10' 70'-80' 10'x19'-12'x18'
40'-45' 6'x10-8'x12' 90'-100' 20'x38'-30'x50