§2301 Flags

Summary

The Secretary must provide an American flag to cover the casket of a deceased person who meets certain military service rules. That includes veterans who fought in any war or who served after January 31, 1955, people who completed at least one enlistment, those discharged for a disability that happened in the line of duty, and people who were entitled to retired pay under chapter 67 of title 10 (or would have been but were under 60). After burial the flag is given to the next of kin. If no next of kin claims it, a close friend or associate may receive it, but if a friend gets the flag no one else will. For those who died on active duty after May 27, 1941, the Secretary must give a flag to the next of kin or another appropriate person when they are not eligible under this rule or under section 1482(a) of title 10. The phrase Mexican border period covers January 1, 1911 through May 8, 1916. Members or former members of the Selected Reserve (see section 10143 of title 10) also get a flag if they completed at least one enlistment or initial obligated service, were discharged for a service-connected disability before finishing that term, or died while in the Selected Reserve. No flag is provided for people whose last discharge was under conditions less favorable than honorable or for persons described in section 2411(b). Flags used for these burials must be wholly produced in the United States. The Secretary can waive that requirement only if it cannot reasonably be met or if doing so is in the national interest, and must notify Congress in writing within 30 days of any waiver. A flag is “wholly produced in the United States” only if its materials were grown or made in the U.S., all processing happened in the U.S., and the flag was assembled in the U.S.