Guidance for flag info

[Fireboykirk]

Our Color Guard is opening the new Highland Games in Kerrville Tx in August . We are getting a Saltire to go with our other parade flags. My question is; Does the Saltire need to have gold fringe to match our other flags or does it maintain a clean edge. I've seen pictures of both and haven't heard back from the Consulate for a correct answer. Somebody point me in the right direction. We wear kilts, that's why I'm on this page.

[Dale-of-Cedars]

See: The Court of the Lord Lyon - Scottish Heraldic Flags
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/lordlyon3.htm

"7. FRINGES
Except in a few cases such as Standards, fringes are regarded as mere decoration to be added or omitted at the owner's whim. Where used, they should be either plain and of the same metal (gold or silver) that is predominant in the flag, or they may be of alternate portions of the main colour and the main metal of the flag itself"

[AFS1970]

If you are buying a new flag, I would say go with what matches the rest of the flags, this way you will not be appearing to place one flag apart from the others in style.

Flag placement and how high it is held is all that is needed to show the relative ordering of flags. I used to march in my state's Saint Andrew's Society color guard and we carried up to 7 flags at a time. Oddly enough we almost went with an 8th flag but the person who wanted to donate it would only do so as log as they carried that one all the time. Because of varying numbers of personnel, the only flag we could guarantee was always carried was the United State flag. That 8th would have been for Nova Scotia, and as a provincial flag of another country would be pretty far down the order and most likely the first one dropped if someone did not show up.

By the way, all our flags were without fringe. I have no idea why, as they were all bought before I joined.

[Geoff Withnell]

Position is more important than height. I learned in the Scouts, confirmed in Marine ceremonial units and when I was working for the US State Department - the flag of one sovereign nation is never flown above the flag of another in peacetime. One often sees this done incorrectly. The home nation's place of honor is on the flags right of the line or in front, but not above.

[Tobus]

Despite many conspiracy theories and rumours, the fringe is purely optional and decorative. So there needn't be any concern about meaning, or whether it's "correct" or not to have fringe on any particular flag. It is tradition for parade flags to have fringe, not only because it dresses them up a little bit, but it weighs them down and keeps them from flapping about (which can certainly be a hazard for the flag-bearer).

If the other flags have fringe, I'd put fringe on the Saltire as well, just to maintain the same level of decoration and style. And for safety.

[Reiver]

The quote below concerning gold fringe on the Flag is from the book "So Proudly We Hail, The History of the United States Flag" Smithsonian Institute Press 1981, by Wiliam R. Furlong and Byron McCandless. "The placing of a fringe on Our Flag is optional with the person of organization, and no Act of Congress or Executive Order either prohibits the practice, according to the Institute of Hearaldry. Fringe is used on indoor flags only, as fringe on flags on outdoor flags would deteriorate rapidly. The fringe on a Flag is considered and 'honorable enrichment only', and its official use by the US Army dates from 1895.. A 1925 Attorney General's Opinion states: 'the fringe does not appear to be regarded as an integral part of the Flag, and its presence cannot be said to constitute an unauthorized addition to the design prescribed by statute. An external fringe is to be distinguished from letters, words, or emblematic designs printed or superimposed upon the body of the flag itself. Under law, such additions might be open to objection as unauthorized; but the same is not necessarily true of the fringe.'"

[Tarheel]

Reiver's post is most enlightening. I expect since the flags in question will not be displayed long out of doors the fringe is less likely to unravel or tear quickly (thus damage the flag). Thanks for the extra info.