Mural of Alexander Henson planting the American flag at North Pole, by Austin Mecklem, at the Recorder of Deeds building, built in 1943. 515 D St., NW, Washington, D.C. Library of Congress image. Santa Claus may have been out of town when Henson was there.
November offers several flag flying days, especially in years when there is an election.
But December may be the month with the most flag-flying dates, when we include statehood days.
December 7 is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. It’s not in the Flag Code, but public law (P.L. 103-308) urges that the president should issue a proclamation asking Americans to fly flags.
December 25 is Christmas Day, a federal holiday, and one of the score of dates designated in the Flag Code. If you watch your neighborhood closely, you’ll note even some of the most ardent flag wavers miss posting the colors on this day, as they do on Thanksgiving and New Years.
Other dates?
Nine states attained statehood in December, so people in those states should fly their flags (and you may join them). Included in this group is Delaware, traditionally the “First State,” as it was the first colony to ratify the U.S. Constitution:
- Illinois, December 3 (1818, 21st state)
- Delaware, December 7 (1787, 1st state)
- Mississippi, December 10 (1817, 20th state)
- Indiana, December 11 (1816, 19th state)
- Pennsylvania, December 12 (1787, 2nd state)
- Alabama, December 14 (1819, 22nd state)
- New Jersey, December 18 (1787, 3rd state)
- Iowa, December 28 (1846, 29th state)
- Texas, December 29 (1845, 28th state)
December 15 is Bill of Rights Day, marking the day in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was declared ratified; but though this event generally gets a presidential proclamation, there is no law or executive action that requires flags to fly on that date, for that occasion.
Eleven flag-flying dates in December. Does any other month have as many flag flying opportunities?
Have I missed any December flag-flying dates? 11 events on 10 days (Delaware’s statehood falls on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack).
Here’s a list of the days to fly the flag, under national law, in chronological order:
- Illinois, December 3 (1818, 21st state)
- Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, December 7
- Delaware, December 7 (1787, 1st state) (shared with Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day)
- Mississippi, December 10 (1817, 20th state)
- Indiana, December 11 (1816, 19th state)
- Pennsylvania, December 12 (1787, 2nd state)
- Alabama, December 14 (1819, 22nd state)
- New Jersey, December 18 (1787, 3rd state)
- Christmas Day, December 25
- Iowa, December 28 (1846, 29th state)
- Texas, December 29 (1845, 28th state)
Fly your flag with respect to the flag, for the republic it represents, and for all those who sacrificed that it may wave on your residence.
Appropriate to a snowy December. “The Barn on Grayson-New Hope Road. This barn with its old truck and ever-present American flag, is often the subject of photographs and paintings by the locals.” Photo and copyright by Melinda Anderson
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 
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