What It Takes...To Fly The Flag At Night

A few weeks ago, my daughter and I pulled up to the house after a late rehearsal. Earlier that day, I had hung a newly purchased flag on a beam above our front porch. When I saw it flying when we pulled up, I loved the way it looked at night backlit from our house lights.

"Hey--look at that," I said to my daughter. She's not as excited about flags as I am, apparently. To me, the flag looked like it had sufficient light to be able to fly it all night. I liked the idea of not taking it down every night.

"Does the flag look like there's a spotlight on it?" I asked her.

"No," she said, in a very non-committal way.

I was deflated. I wanted to have it fly all night long.

Tonight, I again had a late rehearsal and I pulled up to the house and saw the flag gently flowing from a summer evening breeze. As I took the dog out for a end-of-the-day bathroom break, I DuckDuckGo'd a search on proper lighting of an American flag at night.

From Mr. Ed's Flagpole Company's website, I found the following information:

One of the most asked questions we receive at Mr. Ed’s Flagpole Co. is about displaying the U.S. Flag at night—specifically if the flag needs to be illuminated.

The short answer is ‘yes’. If you’re flying the U.S. Flag at night it should be lit. Illumination is out of respect to the Flag of the United States and to be able to view the stars and stripes in the dark from a distance.

You can access this site by clicking: HERE. 

So, after I put the dog inside, I went back out and snapped a couple of pictures. I decided that one shot could convince me to either keep the flag flying tonight, or climb up and take it down until tomorrow morning.

I walked across the street and looked at our home. Could I distinctly see the Stars and Stripes from a distance? You can decide for yourself, but for me (and my wife when I asked her...), you could definitely see the American flag clearly.

I know I've left the flag out all night before, and most likely, it was not lit, but tonight, our little American flag will be flying all night long, and as the sun rises on Independence Day, our flag will greet the new day. Happy Independence Day, everyone!