Flag order of precedence is the sequence in which flags are displayed when more than one is flown together. The flag of the United States takes the position of honor, which means the peak on a shared halyard and the observer's far left on separate poles of equal height. Service, state and organizational flags follow in a fixed order below or after it.
We make both the flags and the poles in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, and that gives us a view most etiquette guides don't have. Precedence is a rigging problem before it's a courtesy problem. Plenty of people get the order right on paper and then find the hardware on their pole won't let them fly it that way.
What Is the Only Flag Allowed to Fly Above the American Flag?
None, on American soil, with one narrow exception. Title 4 of the US Code provides that no other flag or pennant should be placed above or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America. The exception is the church pennant, flown above the flag during naval chaplain services at sea.
The United Nations question comes up constantly and the answer is narrower than people think. The Flag Code preserves the practice of flying the UN flag in a position of superior prominence only at United Nations headquarters. Anywhere else in the country, the US flag is at the peak.
One more point that catches people out. The flag's own right is the side on its right as it faces you, which is your left as you look at it. Every "to the right of" instruction in the Flag Code is written from the flag's position, not from yours, and reading it the other way is the mistake we see more than any other.
The Six Service Flags, In Order
First in the order, and the date on the banner is most of the reason why.
The service flags run Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard. That's the Department of Defense Order of Precedence and it's what color guards, parades and joint displays follow.
It broadly tracks how old each branch is, though not neatly. The Department of Veterans Affairs sets out the founding dates behind it, with the Continental Army established June 14, 1775, the Marine Corps on November 10, 1775 and the Continental Navy on October 13, 1775, then the Air Force in 1947 and the Space Force on December 20, 2019. The Marine Corps sits above the Navy despite the later date, which the services attribute to the Navy being stood down after the Revolution and re-established in 1794 while the Marines' line ran unbroken.
The Coast Guard is the one that moves. In peacetime it sits last, because it belongs to the Department of Homeland Security. In wartime, operating under the Department of Defense, it's displayed between the Navy and the Marine Corps.
Our service flags page carries all six, with a separate collection behind each one, from Army onward.
The POW/MIA flag is not a service flag and doesn't sit in that sequence. It has its own rules and its own designated days, which we covered in what the POW/MIA flag means and when to fly it.
One Pole or Several, and What Changes
Whether your flags share a halyard or have a pole each changes the geometry completely, and it's the point at which most home displays go wrong.
On one halyard the order is vertical. The US flag goes to the peak and everything else hangs beneath it in precedence order, so state flag below national, city or organizational below that. The Flag Code adds that where flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the US flag is hoisted first and lowered last.
On separate poles of equal height the order is horizontal, and it reads from the observer's left. Standing and facing the display, the US flag is the one on your far left. If the poles are of different heights the tallest carries the US flag, and a center pole taller than those flanking it is the common commercial arrangement.
Flags of other nations are the exception to the vertical rule. International custom is that national flags fly on separate poles of equal height and at equal size, never one above another, because flying one nation's flag beneath another's reads as a statement nobody intends to make.
What the Hardware Actually Allows
A single halyard will not fly two full-size flags well, and that's the practical limit nobody mentions. Two flags on one rope means the lower one sits in the wind shadow of the upper, wears at a different rate, and on a residential pole of twenty feet or less leaves the second flag hanging near the collar where it will wrap.
Sizing is the other constraint. The flag has to suit the pole before precedence is even a question, and a second flag below it needs to be a size down or it fouls. We set the sizing out separately in our guide to proper flag size and flying multiple flags rather than repeat it here.
Check what your truck and halyard are rated for before adding a second flag. A pole rigged for one flag carries a different load with two, particularly in winter when a wet flag gains real weight, and the failure shows up at the truck rather than at the flag.
Where People Get It Wrong on a Home Pole
One flag on one pole. Most of the errors start when a second flag joins it at the same size.
The most common error isn't the order at all. It's flying a second flag the same size as the first, which makes the display read as two equal flags rather than one flag with a subordinate beneath it. Size carries meaning here as much as position does.
Second is the left and right confusion already mentioned, and it shows up most on a pair of poles beside a driveway where the owner has put the US flag on their own left as they walk out. Third is a state flag flown at the same height as the national flag on a twin-pole setup, which is correct only if the poles are genuinely equal and the US flag is on the observer's left.
If you're setting up a display from scratch, decide the pole arrangement first, then the sizes, then the order. Our standard American flags are made to the sizes those poles are built around.
FAQ
What is the correct order of flags?
The US flag first and highest, then state flags, then military service flags, then county, city and organizational flags, then any others. On one halyard the sequence runs top to bottom. On separate poles of equal height it runs from the observer's left. Flags of other nations are flown on separate equal poles rather than in the sequence.
What is the correct order of displaying military flags?
Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, then Coast Guard. That's the Department of Defense Order of Precedence. The Coast Guard moves to a position between the Navy and the Marine Corps in wartime, when it operates under the Department of Defense rather than the Department of Homeland Security.
What are the six military flags in order?
United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force, United States Space Force and United States Coast Guard. The Marine Corps ranks above the Navy despite a later founding date, which is attributed to the Navy being disbanded after the Revolution and re-established in 1794 while the Marine Corps line continued.
