The United States Flag Code establishes advisory rules for display and care of the national flag of the United States of America. It is Chapter 5 of Title 4 of the United States Code ( et seq). Although this is a U.S. federal law, the code is not mandatory: it uses non-binding language like "should" and "custom" throughout and does not prescribe any penalties for failure to follow the guidelines. It was "not intended to proscribe conduct" and was written to "codify various existing rules and customs." Separately, Congress passed the Flag Protection Act of 1968 (amended in 1989) (), a since struck-down criminal statute, which prohibits mutilating, defacing, defiling or burning the flag. Although it remains part of codified federal law, it is not enforceable due to the Supreme Court of the United States finding it unconstitutional in United States v. Eichman. Additionally, the public law which includes the Flag Code (Pub. L. 105–225, largely codified in Title 36 of the U.S. Code), addresses conduct when the U.S. National Anthem is being played while the flag is present. That law suggests civilians in attendance should face the flag "at attention" (standing upright) with their hand over their heart. Definition of a United States flag The U.S. flag is defined by , executive order and official government standards: The flag of the United States for the purpose of this chapter shall be defined according to sections 1 and 2 of this title and Executive Order 10834 issued pursuant thereto.Executive Order 10834 Proportions And Sizes Of Flags And Position Of Stars prescribes the design of the flag as well as Federal Specification DDD-F-416F Summary of the advisory code The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing, unless it is the ensign responding to a salute from a ship of a foreign nation. This is sometimes misreported as a tradition that comes from the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where countries were asked to dip their flag to King Edward VII; American team flag bearer Ralph Rose did not follow this protocol, and teammate Martin Sheridan is often, though apocryphally, quoted as proclaiming that "this flag dips before no earthly king." When a flag is so tattered that it no longer fits to serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be replaced in a dignified manner, preferably by burning. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion,