§2249b — Title 10 Armed Forces | U.S. Code

§2249b Display of State, District of Columbia, Commonwealth, and Territorial Flags by the Armed Forces

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— General Military Law › Part IV— SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter 134— MISCELLANEOUS ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS › Subchapter I— MISCELLANEOUS AUTHORITIES, PROHIBITIONS, AND LIMITATIONS ON THE USE OF APPROPRIATED FUNDS › § 2249b

Last updated Apr 3, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must make sure that anytime the armed forces display the flags of all 50 states, they also display the flags of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Flags shown at any Department of Defense base or facility must follow the rules in title 4, section 7, and any changes made to that rule under section 10 of title 4.

Title 10, §2249b

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that, whenever the official flags of all 50 States are displayed by the armed forces, such display shall include the flags of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

(b)The display of an official flag of a State, territory, or possession of the United States at an installation or other facility of the Department shall be governed by section 7 of title 4 and any modification of section 7 under section 10 of title 4.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2013—Pub. L. 112–239, § 588(b)(1), substituted “Display of State, District of Columbia, commonwealth, and territorial flags by the armed forces” for “Display of State flags: prohibition on use of funds to arbitrarily exclude flag; position and manner of display” in section catchline. Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 112–239, § 588(a), amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “Funds available to the Department of Defense may not be used to prescribe or enforce any rule that arbitrarily excludes the official flag of any State, territory, or possession of the United States from any display of the flags of the States, territories, and possessions of the United States at an official ceremony of the Department of Defense.” 1998—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 105–225 substituted “section 7 of title 4 and any modification of section 7 under section 10 of title 4” for “the provisions of section 3 of the Joint Resolution of June 22, 1942 (56 Stat. 378, chapter 435; 36 U.S.C. 175), and any modification of such provisions under section 8 of that Joint Resolution (36 U.S.C. 178)”.