How to Salute the Flag
Americans traditionally have demonstrated respect for the nation's flag in various ways. Formal public instruction first came in an 1894 leaflet for schoolchildren, "How to Give the Salute to the Flag." James Upham had devised a two-part salute two years earlier, shortly after his co-worker at The Youth's Companion magazine, Francis Bellamy, penned the Pledge of Allegiance. Following World War I, a uniform U.S. flag code was adopted that included a two-part hand salute similar to Upham's. Congress dropped the extended-arm portion of the salute in 1942 due to great public discomfort over its similarity to the German "Heil Hitler" salute. American flag etiquette now calls for different hand salutes and other gestures of respect depending on attire (civilian or military), sex, social circumstance and citizenship status.
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Instructions
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If wearing civilian clothing, face the flag, stand at attention, then place your right hand over your heart. (For a man wearing a hat, remove it with your right hand and hold it at your left shoulder so your open hand is over your heart.) Recite the Pledge of Allegiance: "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." The controversial gesture deleted from the original flag salute came at the mention of the word "flag." At that point, James Upham instructed, "the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side."
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If you're in U.S. military attire, stand silently at attention, face the flag, then offer a military salute---"right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it," as James Upham described it.
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Salute as described above also when the flag is displayed during the playing of "The Star Spangled Banner." "Persons in uniform should render the military salute at the first note of the anthem and retain this position until the last note," according to the U.S. Flag Code. If you're a civilian, face the flag and place hand over heart as during the pledge. When the national anthem is played, but the flag is not displayed, face toward the music and act as if the flag were displayed there.
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Salute also when the American flag passes in a parade or review---at the moment it passes, if the flag is in a moving column---and during ceremonial flag raising and lowering.
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Show respect for the U.S. flag if you're not an American citizen by standing at attention.
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Demonstrate respect for the American flag at all other times. The U.S. Flag Code anticipates almost every situation, from how (and when) to display the flag indoors and outdoors to the proper orientation of the union (field of stars). The code is the final reference for flag protocol.
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