To Fringe or Not to Fringe, That is the Question

I originally wrote this in December of 2017. This update, December of 2023, includes links to other articles to help fully explain the issues.

Please read about the difference between a flag and a color.

According to the US Army, fringe is an honorable enrichment only, not an integral part of the color. As it is attached on the edge, it does not “deface” the color which therefore remains the Stars and Stripes of the US. Originally, fringe was used to create a static charge that actually helped keep the flag clean.

See also: All About The Flag. and especially, Flag, Fringe and Finial Theory.

EO 10834

There are many posts that posit the theory that the fringe represents martial or admiralty law. However there is no law, decree, order or other legally enforceable proclamation that mentions the fringe, either to prescribe or proscribe its use. Some quote Executive Order 10834 (under President Eisenhower) however this is a public document available in full on the Internet and a review will show no mention of a fringe. Click here for the text of Executive Order 10834 (1959) on the make up of the American flag.

Title 4, United States Code, Chapter 1

This is what we call the Flag Code. This section of the US Code governs the flag. There is nothing that says that a civilian or civilian organization may not display a flag with a gold fringe. This does not include veteran organizations whose members are required to follow Army or Marine Corps guidance.

Indoor/Outdoor vs. Outside

“Fringe is for indoor flags only.” That is a reply I received from an Air Force Base Honor Guard member years ago who received bad training. If what she wrote to me is so, then someone had better tell the Joint Service Color Guard pictured at the top of this post. When a color is mounted on a flagstaff that is to be carried and you are in a military color team, for the Army, Air Force, and Space Force, all the colors better have fringe on them. That is the standard. The same goes for the Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard, except the Marine Corps forbids fringe on the US.

An indoor/outdoor flag, has a staff sleeve (pole hem) and is called a color. This hem is a sleeve that fits over the flagstaff. This is the type of color that must have fringe for military color guards.

An “outside flag” (my term) has a header with grommets. This type of flag (not a color) is not attached to a flagstaff to be carried by a color guard, it is attached to clips on a halyard and raised outside on a flagpole.

Service Standards

Gold fringe can be found on ceremonial flags used indoors and for outdoor ceremonies. The fringe is considered completely within the guidelines of proper flag etiquette. There is nothing in the Flag Code about the fringe being for federal government flags only.

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/faq.htm

• Army “1–7. Materials, Flags designed primarily for indoor and parade display will normally be made of banner rayon or heavy-weight nylon with rayon fringe. Those designed primarily for outdoor display will be made of nylon-wool or heavyweight nylon without fringe.”
• Air Force AFI 90-1201 “2.9.1. Materials. Flags designed primarily for indoor and parade display will normally be made of rayon or heavyweight nylon with rayon fringe.” Same for the USSF.
• Space Force departmental, organizational, and general officer flags must have silver-colored fringe. This is mandatory and you must request it from the flag company.
• Marine Corps requires fringe on all colors except the national flag with fringe.
  • MCO 10520.3 Chapter 3, para. 2. “d. The fringe shall be hand-knotted 2 1/2-inches wide, of golden-yellow color, and trimmed on three sides of the standard.” This quote applies to all Marine Corps organizational colors.
  • MCO 5060.20, Chapter 7, para. 1, “p. The use of gold fringe on the U.S. Flag is expressly forbidden for Marine Corps organizations.” (emphasis mine) This is because the Flag Code states that nothing will be attached to the American flag.
• Navy, and Coast Guard have fringe on all colors. NTP 13(B) “FRINGE, The Navy’s policy regarding fringe on the national ensign is as follows: a. Fringe will not be attached to the national ensign when displayed out-of-doors.” This means an “outside” flag.
  • The Navy Infantry Battalion Color does not receive fringe even though it is displayed on a flagpole and carried in a color guard. This flag is not flown on a mast.

​The reason why the word “primarily” (as in “Those designed primarily for outdoor display”) is written here is because of boat flags. Boat flags can have a staff sleeve for flying on a mast on the boat and can be carried on a color guard. The AF/SF just copied the Army and the Navy has the same wording because of flag displays at sea and on land.

What about the cord and tassels?

The gold cord and tassels is not authorized on any flag displayed in the US military.

Army and Air Force – Any cord and tassels is not authorized on any color guard flag.

Marine Corps – Battle Streamers OR a scarlet and gold cord for the USMC fringed color.

Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard – The colors of the cord and tassel for the national color are red, white, and blue.