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Fringe on Flags

Is the fringe a part of the flag?

This is an interesting question in the US. I might disagree that the fringe is part of the flag. Of course, they are physically part of the flag, but in most cases they are just an "honorable augmentation" to the flag itself. The Executive Order establishing the flag of the US gives the details of the design, sizes, colors, etc. etc, of the Stars and Stripes, but it does not include the fringe as it is not part of the flag itself. On the other hand, the US military services include specifications for the fringe when they have official flags manufactured for indoor or parade use.

In 1945 when the flag of the President of the US was re-designed, the first draft of Executive Order describing the new flag included a sentence describing the fringe (gold and silver) but it was scratched out before the Order was issued. That is because the fringe was not part of the flag, and is not needed when, for example, the president is aboard a ship and his flag flies from the mast. Obviously fringe is inappropriate for that use of the flag. When the military services procure fringed flags for official use, then the specification for the fringe is added to the specs for the flag material, the type of sewing thread, the heading, the cords and tassels, how the flag is to be boxed for shipping, etc.

To open another can of worms, there are some people in the US that think the presence of fringe on the American Flag in a court of law is a sign that the court is an Admiralty court, not a civil court, and they argue that their case should be thrown out because of "lack of jurisdiction." This often mildly irritates the judge who readily dismisses the motion. Whitney Smith of the Flag Research Center has looked into this and of course can find no basis for this belief in law, regulation, or historic practice. He asked me to search my library to see what I could find about fringe on flags and the earliest recorded fringe I could find was a flag of a group of tradesmen in Boston. (The flag was white with symbols of the craft or guild that they belonged to, I forget which one it was, now.) The flag was used during a visit of George Washington to the City in the 1790's. Obviously a very early American use, and obviously not military related.

During the US / Mexican war of 1846 and the US Civil War of 1861-1865, fringe was common on the regimental colors of Northern States (the flags were often made of silk), but rarely seen on flags of the Confederate States (usually cotton or wool bunting).

The U. S. States began to adopt state flags in the late 1800's and usually followed the practice of the state militia troops who used the state arms on a blue silk field. Sometimes fringe was included in these state laws, along with specifications for the type of wood used for the flag staff! Maryland and Kentucky go even further and require a special finial (MD - cross bottony, KY-a bird (cardinal)).

To summarize, fringe is usually found on flags used in parades or other such ceremonies, or on indoor flags. It is an addition to the flag, and not part of the design, although sometimes it is included in the specification for manufacturing the flag.

Nick Artimovich 04-APR-1996