Flying colors

Florida statutes regulate flags in sometimes surprising and unexpected ways

It’s a grand old flag. And there are some interesting state laws governing how it’s purchased, displayed and treated in Florida.

The All-American Flag Act, which becomes law on Wednesday, is the latest in more than a century’s worth of legislation governing the symbols of the nation, state and even the Confederacy.

The fact that flags have their own chapter in Florida statutes shows they are more than colored cloth, said Rep. Robert Cortes, R-Altamonte Springs, who sponsored the new law. Just look at the controversy generated in states grappling with what to do about displaying the Confederate flag on public property, he said.

“We pledge allegiance to our flag and what it represents to us. It’s a living thing, representing a living country,” Cortes said of the American flag.

Under his legislation, the state, counties and cities must purchase U.S. and Florida flags made in the United States out of domestic materials. A similar made-in-the-USA rule already exists for public schools, which are required under state law to fly a state and national flag outdoors as well as put a U.S. flag in each classroom.

State flag laws cover everything from the basics, such as which entities must fly a flag, to minutiae including designating, in some cases, who is in charge of running the banner up the flagpole. Some statutes have surprising details buried in the fine print.

State laws governing how, when and where national and state flags are displayed probably are almost as old as Florida itself. Many have been tinkered with over time, bending to legislative attitudes that changed as the Sunshine State marched through the Civil War and two world wars, the Civil Rights movement and Florida’s land boom.

Although there are federal regulations for the U.S. flag, states are allowed to make their own laws regarding the Star and Stripes — as long as they don’t conflict with federal law.

Chapter 256 in the Florida Statutes is devoted exclusively to flags, although some laws covering their use are found in other chapters as well. Here are some of them.