Thanksgiving and the Flag Code Display Days: A Calendar for the Year Ahead

Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026. The flag flies at full staff, from sunrise to sunset, the same as any other display day. There is no special Thanksgiving rule in the Flag Code. The holiday is simply on the list of days when, in the Code's words, the flag should especially be displayed.

That list is in 4 U.S.C. 6(d). Most printed calendars mix the statute's days in with service birthdays and half-staff dates set by other laws, without saying which is which. This article sorts that out. It gives the actual dates from Thanksgiving 2026 through the end of 2027, marks the half-staff days and where each comes from, and covers the practical side: who raises and lowers the flag on a holiday when the building is closed, what the weather rule means for a modern flag, and how to get a pole ready before the busy stretch from Thanksgiving to New Year's.

What the Flag Code actually says

Section 6 of Title 4 is short. It covers when and how the flag is displayed, and it has seven parts:

• (a) The custom is to display the flag from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. It may be displayed 24 hours a day if it is properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.
• (b) The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.
• (c) It should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement, except when an all-weather flag is displayed.
• (d) It should be displayed on all days, especially on a list of named days, plus days proclaimed by the President, the birthdays of states (their dates of admission) and state holidays.
• (e) Daily on or near the main administration building of every public institution.
• (f) In or near every polling place on election days.
• (g) During school days in or near every schoolhouse.

Two points get lost. First, the Code says the flag should be displayed on all days. The named list is emphasis, not permission. Second, the Code is guidance for civilians. It doesn't carry a penalty for a homeowner or a business, and nobody is fined for missing Navy Day. It does set the customs that veterans, schools, public bodies and most of the trade follow, and it's what people point to when they notice something wrong.

You can read the full section at Cornell's Legal Information Institute.

Thanksgiving 2026: the short version

The practical problem with Thanksgiving is that most businesses, schools and offices are shut. If nobody will be on site to raise the flag in the morning and lower it at sunset, you have two choices that stay within the Code. Either leave the flag up through the long weekend with proper lighting on it, or arrange for someone to raise and lower it. What doesn't follow the custom is a flag left up in the dark from Wednesday evening to Monday morning because nobody thought about it.

"Properly illuminated" isn't defined in the statute. The usual reading in the trade is a light aimed at the flag so it can be seen and recognized at night, not just a parking-lot light somewhere nearby. Test it before Wednesday, not on Thursday night.

The display calendar: November 2026 to December 2027

Here is every day named in 4 U.S.C. 6(d), plus the half-staff days set by other laws, with the actual dates. Half-staff days are marked, and the right-hand column says where each one comes from.

Inauguration Day, January 20, is also on the statute's list. It only comes around every four years, and the next one is January 20, 2029, so it doesn't appear above. The National Fallen Firefighters Memorial Service in Emmitsburg, Maryland, also brings flags on federal office buildings to half-staff under Public Law 107-51. Its date is set each year rather than fixed in law, so watch for the proclamation.

Three dates in 2027 worth a closer look

May 15, 2027. Peace Officers Memorial Day is a half-staff day every year, and Armed Forces Day is a full-staff day. In 2027 they land on the same Saturday. The Code settles it: 4 U.S.C. 7(m) says the flag goes to half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. So on May 15, 2027, the flag stays at full staff. Calendars that show both without the note are how a school or town hall ends up lowering the flag by mistake.

July 27, 2027. National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day is in the 4 U.S.C. 6(d) list as a display day. Its own statute, 36 U.S.C. 127, asked for the flag at half-staff on July 27 only through 2003. Since then, whether it's flown at half-staff depends on what that year's presidential proclamation says. Many calendars still mark it half-staff every year. Read the proclamation that summer rather than relying on last year's list.

Easter and Vietnam War Veterans Day, back to back. Easter 2027 falls on March 28 and National Vietnam War Veterans Day on March 29, so a flag raised for Easter morning goes straight into the next display day. National Vietnam War Veterans Day was added to the Flag Code in 2017, and it's still missing from some older printed lists.

Half-staff: who orders it and how to do it

There are two kinds of half-staff days. The fixed ones are in the table above, set by statute. The rest come by order. Under 4 U.S.C. 7(m), the President orders half-staff for the death of principal federal officials and governors, and a governor may order it for the death of a present or former state official, a member of the armed forces from that state who dies on active duty, or a first responder who dies in the line of duty. The Mayor of the District of Columbia has the same power within the District.

The Code also sets how long those orders last. For a President or former President it's 30 days from the death. For a Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice, or the Speaker of the House, it's 10 days. For a Member of Congress, it's the day of death and the following day.

Doing it properly takes about a minute:

• [ ] Raise the flag briskly to the peak of the pole first.
• [ ] Then lower it to half-staff, which the Code defines as halfway between the top and bottom of the staff.
• [ ] At the end of the day, raise it to the peak again before lowering it all the way.
• [ ] On Memorial Day, take it back up to the peak at noon and leave it at full staff for the rest of the day.
• [ ] On an internal-halyard pole, have the winch handle or cam key with you before you start. The flag can't be moved without it, and it tends to be in a desk drawer at the other building.

If you fly more than one flag on a single pole, everything goes down together. A state or organization flag doesn't stay at the top while the American flag sits below it at half-staff.

State birthdays and state holidays

The Flag Code also asks for the flag on each state's birthday (its date of admission to the Union) and on state holidays. Those dates aren't on any national calendar, so a school or county office has to add its own. For the Mid-Atlantic, for example:

Delaware's day falls on Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7, so in Delaware the flag is at half-staff on its own state birthday. When a state flag flies with the American flag on its birthday, the American flag goes at the peak and the state flag below it, and the state flag shouldn't be the larger of the two. FlagandBanner.com publishes a list of every state's admission date alongside its national flag-flying calendar, which is handy if you're building a calendar for several states.

Days you'll see on other lists

Most flag-flying calendars add days that aren't in 4 U.S.C. 6(d): the Army's birthday (which shares June 14 with Flag Day), the Marine Corps birthday on November 10, the Air Force and Space Force birthdays, POW/MIA Recognition Day, Juneteenth and others. Flying the flag on any of them is entirely proper. They just come from proclamations, custom or other laws rather than the Flag Code's own list, which matters if you're writing a policy and want to cite something.

Juneteenth, June 19, became a federal holiday in 2021, but it hasn't been added to the 4 U.S.C. 6(d) list. Under the "all days" language it's still entirely proper to fly the flag that day.

The weather rule and modern flags

Section 6(c) says the flag shouldn't be displayed in inclement weather unless it's an all-weather flag. Modern outdoor flags are made of nylon or polyester, and they're generally treated as all-weather flags, which is why you see them flying in the rain without anyone objecting.

The weather rule still matters for wear. Thanksgiving to New Year's in most of the country means cold, wind and wet snow, and a flag that looked fine in September can fray at the fly end by January. America's Dealers and Distributors sells two materials, and explains the choice in plain words on its Flag Shop page: nylon, which is light and bright and flies even on a still morning, and heavy-duty polyester, two layers with extra stitching and a reinforced end, for winter weather, sites near water and strong wind. If your flag goes up for the holidays and stays up through the winter, the heavier flag is the one built for it.

Flag size matters too. An oversized flag wears out faster and pulls harder on the pole. ADD's flag size guide gives the size for each pole height, from a 3 by 5 on a 15 ft pole up to a 20 by 30 on an 80 ft pole, with the rule of thumb that the flag's length should be about a quarter to a third of the pole's exposed height.

Getting the pole ready before Thanksgiving

The weeks before Thanksgiving are a good time to look at the pole itself, before Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day and Christmas come in a row. A quick walk-round:

• [ ] Halyard. Look for fraying where the rope runs over the truck at the top and where it ties off. A rope that parts in December leaves the flag stuck at the top or on the ground.
• [ ] Snap hooks. They should open and close cleanly. Covered hooks keep the metal from knocking against the pole all night.
• [ ] Cleat or winch. On external halyards, check the cleat is tight to the pole and the rope is wrapped and secured. On internal halyards, check the winch turns smoothly and you know where the handle is.
• [ ] Truck. If the flag won't run smoothly to the peak, the truck at the top may need a lift crew.
• [ ] Light. If you plan to fly overnight, test the light now.
• [ ] Flag. Replace a faded or frayed flag before the holidays rather than after. A worn flag on Veterans Day or Thanksgiving gets noticed.
• [ ] Spare flag. For a public building or a school, keep a second flag on hand, sized to the pole. Many American Legion and VFW posts collect worn flags for retirement.

ADD's internal vs external halyard guide explains the two rope systems, including why schools and public sites often choose internal halyards. They're harder to tamper with, but they make that winch handle the one thing nobody can lose.

Where America's Dealers and Distributors fits in

If the walk-round turns up a pole that's past saving, or a frontage that never had one, the holidays are when people tend to notice. America's Dealers and Distributors is an authorized Eder Flag dealer, based in Baltimore, Maryland, that supplies and installs flagpoles in the 48 contiguous states. Its prices are on its website, with no "call for price" on the aluminum range, so you can see what a pole costs before you talk to anyone. Before ADD quotes, they check the design wind speed at the actual address, because a pole that's right for one town can be too light for the next one.

When you do get in touch, a person reads the request and answers with a real number, usually the same business day. ADD's site puts it this way: "We would rather spend fifteen minutes on the phone than sell you the wrong pole."

For the flag itself, every flag ADD sells is sewn in the USA by American flag makers, and shipping is free. That covers American flags in sizes from 2 by 3 ft to 50 by 80 ft, all fifty state flags (from $24.60 in October 2026), the flags of every service branch, and the POW-MIA flag (from $32.80). Through the Winter Flag Sale, buy two flags and get the third free. The offer covers flags only, not flagpoles or installation, and the lowest-priced flag in each three is the free one.