
Schooner on Chesapeake Bay flies the 15-stripe/15-star flag that flew over Fort McHenry. Image from the Maryland Secretary of State’s Office
It’s cruel to people who want to fly U.S. flags often, but only on designated flag-flying dates. (April is also National Poetry Month, so it’s a good time to look up poetry references we should have committed to heart).
For 2022, these are the three dates for flying the U.S. flag; Easter is a national date, the other two are dates suggested for residents of the states involved.
One date, nationally, to fly the flag. That beats March, which has none (in a year with Easter in April and not March). But March has five statehood days, to April’s two.
Take heart! You may fly your U.S. flag any day you choose, or everyday as many people do in Texas (though, too many do not retire their flags every evening . . .).
Three dates to fly Old Glory in April, by the Flag Code and other laws on memorials and commemorations.
- Easter, April 17 in 2022
- Maryland, April 28, 1788, 7th state
- Louisiana, April 30, 1812, 18th state

April usually sees the opening of Major League Baseball’s season — some teams jumped into March in 2018. In this photo, U.S. Navy sailors assigned to the USS Bonhomme Richard practice for the San Diego Padres’ opening day flag ceremony in San Diego on April 5, 2011. The ship sent nearly 300 volunteers to unfurl an 800-pound U.S. flag that covered the entire field. The Bonhomme Richard was in dry-dock for maintenance and upgrades. Defense Department photo via Wikimedia.
More:
- “Congress redesigns U.S. flag, April 4, 1818,” Politico, story of the 15-striped flag’s demise
- Chicago Cubs’ Rick Monday saved the American Flag at Dodger Stadium, April 25, 1976, Dodgers Nation

Yes, this is an encore post. Defeating ignorance takes patience and perseverance.
I fly a flag on most federal flag flying events. I fly a Texas flag on some Texas holidays — I’d like to fly a Mexican flag on Cinco de Mayo and Mexico’s Independence Day, but I’m too cheap to buy a good one.
I agree, a lot of people (not just in Texas) fly the U.S. flag all the time, until it’s in tatters — and I fear they think that’s a license to be an anal orifice. I don’t want anyone to mistake me for one of them.
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Yes, Texans seem to fly their flags any and every day without a thought of bringing them at night. We don’t fly a flag at our house.
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