Can the Texas Flag Fly Higher or the Same Height as the American Flag?

Happy Flag Day! For Texas, it's a little extra special considering its short stint as a country known as the Republic of Texas. Our flag has some serious history behind it.

But something I've heard a lot since moving to the lone star state a few years ago was that the Texas flag is the only state flag that can be flown at the same height as the United States flag. Have you heard this too?

I hate to bare some bad news, but this is actually a false statement. The Texas flag does not get special treatment from the federal government. A study from Snopes.com goes through the federal flag code and explains a few things:

• When the national and state flag are flown on the same halyard, the national flag should be at the peak.
• When they are flown on separate poles, the U.S. flag should be flown to the right (observer's left) and should be on a staff of equal or greater height.

There are a few more positional guidelines, which you can find at Dailyflag.com, but for the sake of this article we'll go straight to the point.

So long as all the positional guidelines are being followed, ANY state can fly their flag the same height as the U.S. national flag. There is nothing found in the federal flag code that provides exceptions for the Texas flag or any other state for that matter. The Texas flag code also doesn't specify any exceptions.

But at the end of the day, if we decide to ignore the rules, "The Flag Code does not prescribe any penalties for non-compliance nor does it include any enforcement provisions, rather it functions simply as a guide for voluntary civilian compliance". So basically no one is coming to lock you up if you fly the flag YOUR way instead of the federal way.