Half-staff

All About The Flag and Color

DrillMasterAsk DrillMaster, Honor Guard, Instructional 2 Comments

This article used to be All About Flag Sizes that I wrote back in 2013 but I felt it needed expanding. Nomenclatures The Outside Flag The Indoor-Outdoor Color Fringe See also: To Fringe or Not to Fringe, That is the Question and Flag, Fringe, and Finial Theory. A flag does not have fringe when it is flown from a stationary …

The Military Hand Salute

DrillMasterAsk DrillMaster, Drill Team Training, Drill Teams, Honor Guard, Honor Guard Training, Instructional 11 Comments

This article originally published on Dec 30, 2014 under the title, When in Doubt, Salute! This is the second update and rearrangement of information to help everyone understand this subject better. How to Salute The services have slightly different techniques. One technique is followed by the Army and Air Force. The middle finger is placed on the corner of the …

Half-staff

The American Flag at Half-Staff and Half-Mast

DrillMasterAsk DrillMaster, Commentary, Honor Guard, Instructional 20 Comments

Staff = a flagpole on land. Mast = a flagpole on a ship at sea or on a Marine Corps, Navy, or Coast Guard installation or other maritime location. Halyard = the rope used to raise and lower the flag. Never fly a fringed flag on a stationary or mounted (on a wall or post) flagpole. These flags are only …

Flagstaff Refurbishing

DrillMasterAsk DrillMaster, Color Guard, Color Guard/Color Team, Equipment Maintenance, Honor Guard 2 Comments

Flagstaffs can become weathered and lose their original look like the one pictured. That is easily remedied! Well, not easy-easy, but it’s not really all that difficult. Here are the steps: Remove the ferrules and middle screw joints. Sand the staffs down completely to the wood. Stain the the staffs. Coat the staffs with at least five coats of urethane. …

Color Guard Flag Protocol

DrillMasterAsk DrillMaster, Color Guard, Color Guard/Color Team, History, Honor Guard, Honor Guard Training, Protocol and Flag 82 Comments

The National Ensign/American Flag For the National Ensign/Color/American Flag, military and other color guards will always hold its staff vertical (Marine Corps, Navy, & Coast Guard and US Certified Ceremonial Guardsmen) or slightly incline it forward (Army only), depending on the service drill and ceremonies manual for regulation or ceremonial drill. The minimum color guard compliment requirement is the American …