No, the White House pride flag display did not violate flag code

On June 10, President Joe Biden hosted a Pride Month celebration at the White House. As part of it, a Progress Pride flag was hung from the White House in between two American flags.

But at least two members of Congress took exception to that display. Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) said the display was a “breach of flag code.” Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) claimed a particular section of the flag code says, “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…are grouped and displayed…”

THE QUESTION

Did the White House violate flag code with its pride flag display?

THE SOURCES

• U.S. flag code
• Photos from the Associated Press and Getty Images
• U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
• American Legion, a veterans organization chartered by Congress in 1919

THE ANSWER

No, the White House did not violate flag code with its pride flag display.

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WHAT WE FOUND

Rep Johnson omitted some words from the section of flag code he cited, removing important context for that rule.

“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,” the U.S. flag code says.

A wider photo of the White House’s pride month festivities from the Associated Press shows that an American flag on a staff remained at the top of the White House, far higher than the pride flag and two American flags seen in the photos posted by the congresspeople.

The same American flag flying on a staff high above the rest of the flags can also be seen in several different photos from Getty Images. These photos also make clear that a black POW/MIA flag, representing service members who are prisoners of war or missing in action, flies directly beneath the American flag. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says the POW/MIA flag should fly directly below the American flag and be second in order of precedence.

Flag code says nothing about the placement of the American flag in regard to other flags if the flags aren’t on a staff. It does say that the blue field of the flag should be on the observer’s left when the flag is displayed vertically. The American flags at the White House pride event were displayed in this way.

The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs also mentions nothing about where the American flag should be in relation to other flags when displayed vertically like the flags were at the White House.

“When the U.S. flag is displayed other than from a staff, it should be displayed flat, or suspended so that its folds fall free,” U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs guidelines say. “When displayed over a street, place the union so it faces north or east, depending upon the direction of the street.”

Similarly, the American Legion, a veterans organization chartered by Congress in 1919, doesn’t mention where a vertical American flag should be placed in relation to other flags in its FAQ for “When the flag is not flown from a staff, how should it be displayed?”

“It should be displayed vertically, whether indoors or out, and suspended so that its folds fall free as though the flag were staffed,” the American Legion says. “The stripes may be displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, and the union should be uppermost and to the flag’s own right (that is, to the observer’s left). When displayed in a window of a home or a place of business, the flag should be displayed in the same way (that is, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street).”