Fly It Right

When flying our flag at home, my dad took special care to keep what I thought was a fairly ridged and particularly precise schedule.

We didn’t have a big flag, but it went up in the morning, long before I ever dragged myself out of bed. It turns out he was up early enough to position the flag by sun-up, which, as it turns out, is customary. It stayed there all day except on occasions of inclement weather, when it was brought in and put away early. You can get custom flags to be durable, but even all-weather flags can be damaged by severe storms. But, usually our flag stayed posted until sunset, which was also customary.
The flag is not to remain flying at night unless properly illuminated (usually requiring a special spot light) like the big flag at the Capitol or the giant custom flags that are flown around my hometown.
The Flag Code states that the flag should be flown on or near every polling place on election days, on or near the main administration building of all public institutions, and on or near every schoolhouse (during school days). The Flag Code also describes the flag as a living thing, which should therefore be treated with proper care and respect.
Flying the flag contrary to its intended orientation has, over the years, been a sign of protest, discontent, and outrage, but is often viewed by enforcement and civilians alike as a breach of etiquette, unless as a sign of distress. The flag should always be displayed upright with the union to the top left