<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article relies too much on references to primary sources . Please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . (September 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The United States Flag Code establishes advisory rules for display and care of the national flag of the United States of America . It is Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code (4 U.S.C. § 1 et seq). This is a U.S. federal law, but the penalty described in Title 18 of the United States Code (18 U.S.C. § 700) for failure to comply with it is not enforced . In 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Eichman that prohibiting burning of the U.S. flag conflicts with the First Amendment right to freedom of speech and is therefore unconstitutional . </P> <P> This etiquette is as applied within U.S. jurisdiction . In other countries and places, local etiquette applies . </P> <Ul> <Li> The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation . This is sometimes misreported as a tradition that comes from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII; American team flag bearer Ralph Rose did not follow this protocol, and teammate Martin Sheridan is often, though apocryphally, quoted as proclaiming that "this flag dips before no earthly king ." </Li> <Li> When a flag is so tattered that it no longer fits to serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning . The Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of America, the military and other organizations regularly conduct dignified flag - burning ceremonies . </Li> <Li> The flag should never touch anything beneath it . Contrary to an urban legend, the flag code does not state that a flag that touches the ground should be burned . Instead, it is considered disrespectful and the flag in question should be moved in such a manner that it is no longer touching the ground . </Li> <Li> The flag should always be permitted to fall freely . (An exception was made during the Apollo moon landings when the flag hung from a vertical pole designed with an extensible horizontal bar, allowing full display even in the absence of an atmosphere .) </Li> </Ul>

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