Flag information was not quite correct

Regarding the letter from Dorothy Barstad regarding the flying of the Canadian flag in the United States.

I am Canadian and I totally agree with the writer that the Canadian flag should not be flown by itself in the United States. As a Canadian I am proud of my homeland and appreciate being a guest in the U.S. for the winter. However, her information on flying flags is not quite correct. There are international protocols for the flying flags.

1: There is a ranking of flags: national, state and provincial and corporate flags and banners.

2: All national flags rank the same but the host country flag (in this case the United States) flies in the position of honor. The position of honor with two poles, from the position of viewing, is on the left. The position of honor with three poles is in the center, The next alphabetically is on the left and the next alphabetically is on the right. With four or more poles, the position of honor is on the left and other national flags displayed will then go in alphabetical order.

3: The only time two national flags are flown on the same pole is in time of occupation of a country, where the occupying country flies its flag at the top of the pole and the occupied country flag is displayed underneath.

Then comes the issue of multiple flags on one pole. It is correct to fly a national flag at the top of one pole and a state flag underneath, or a city or municipal flag underneath that and then corporate flags and banners. This practice follows the protocol for flags being flown by rank.

I hope this clears up some of the confusion from the previous writer’s letter.

Sverre Holgersen

Wellton