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Executive Order 10798 ⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight Constitutional Neutral (+0.02) 📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority

Executive Order 10798—Flag of the United States

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Saturday, January 3, 1959
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3 min read (655 words)

Executive Brief • At a Glance

⏱️ 3 min read (655 words) • ● In Effect
🎯 Primary Mandate

National flags and union jacks for all departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government (hereinafter referred to as executive agencies) shall conform to the following proportions: Hoist (width) of flag------------------ 1 Fly (length) of flag ------------------ 1.9 Hoist (width) of union ---------------- 0.5385 (7/13) Fly (length) of union ----------------- 0.76 Width of each stripe ------------------ 0.0769 (1/13) Such further proportions as are set forth on the attachment hereto.

⚖️ Constitutional Footing
⚖️✨ Zone 2: Zone of Twilight
Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
📜 Art. II §2: Commander-in-Chief Supervisory Authority
🏛️ Scope & Affected Sectors
Armed Forces & Military Establishments Sovereign State Governments & Localities Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants Private Citizens & Property Owners

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

Signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on January 3, 1959, this order concerns Flag of the United States. Proportions. National flags and union jacks for all departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government (hereinafter referred to as executive agencies) shall conform to the following proportions: Hoist (width) of flag------------------ 1 Fly (length) of flag ------------------ 1.9 Hoist (width) of union ---------------- 0.5385 (7/13) Fly (length) of union ----------------- 0.76 Width of each…

Constitutional Assessment: Scrutinized through Article II, Section 2, this action exercises the President's constitutional role as Commander in Chief. Early Framers recognized broad executive discretion in commanding military forces during conflict, provided it remains bounded by congressional declarations and respects civilian domestic courts.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

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National flags and union jacks for all departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government (hereinafter referred to as executive agencies) shall conform to the following proportions: Hoist (width) of flag------------------ 1 Fly (length) of flag ------------------ 1.9 Hoist (width) of union ---------------- 0.5385 (7/13) Fly (length) of union ----------------- 0.76 Width of each stripe ------------------ 0.0769 (1/13) Such further proportions as are set forth on the attachment hereto.

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That attachment is hereby made a part of this order.

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Flags manufactured or purchased for executive agencies shall be limited to those having hoists as follows: (1) -------------------- 20 feet (2) -------------------- 19 feet (3) -------------------- 14.35 feet (4) -------------------- 12.19 feet (5) -------------------- 10 feet (6) -------------------- 8.94 feet (7) -------------------- 5.14 feet (8) -------------------- 5 feet (9) -------------------- 3.52 feet (10) ------------------- 2.90 feet (11) ------------------- 2.37 feet (12) ------------------- 1.31 feet (b) Union jacks manufactured or purchased for executive agencies shall be limited to those the hoists of which correspond to the hoists of the unions of flags of sizes herein authorized.

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The size of the union jack flown with the national flag shall be the same as the size of the union of that national flag.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Armed Forces & Military Establishments 🏛️ Sovereign State Governments & Localities 🏛️ Executive Departments & Federal Civil Servants 🏛️ Private Citizens & Property Owners
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The Framers' Constitutional Council

1787 Prism

Evaluating this order against the constitutional debates of 1787 and the limits of Article II executive power.

⚖️✨ Zone 2 (Zone of Twilight)
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"When the President acts in absence of either a congressional grant or denial of authority, he can only rely upon his own independent powers, but there is a zone of twilight in which he and Congress may have concurrent authority."

— Justice Robert H. Jackson, Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
JM

James Madison

Separation of Powers & Legislative Primacy

"Power is of an encroaching nature, and it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." — Federalist No. 48 (1788)

Madison would view this order with watchful scrutiny. Operating in the 'Zone of Twilight' where Congress is silent, each such directive establishes an administrative precedent that steadily expands the executive perimeter at the expense of legislative primacy.

Madisonian Stance: Vigilant / Cautionary
AH

Alexander Hamilton

The Energetic Executive & Unified Command

"The direction of war implies the direction of the common strength; and the power of directing and employing the common strength must be under the direction of the single hand of the Executive." — Federalist No. 74 (1788)

Hamilton would forcefully champion executive discretion here. For foreign entanglements, commerce defense, and national security, deliberative assemblies are too slow and faction-ridden. A unified, energetic Executive exercising swift command is precisely what the Philadelphia Convention intended for national preservation.

Hamiltonian Stance: Strong Prerogative Support
GM

George Mason

Bill of Rights, Due Process & 10th Amendment

"The president will be surrounded by flatterers and sycophants... and the great powers of the executive will gradually absorb the liberties of the people." — Cato IV (Anti-Federalist, 1787)

The Anti-Federalist prism advises continuous democratic vigilance. Even routine administrative directives aggregate centralized federal power away from town halls and state assemblies toward a distant executive apparatus.

Anti-Federalist Stance: Eternal Vigilance Required
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Five Measurable "Constitutional Friction" Dimensions

An objective audit measuring potential separation-of-powers tension against the United States Constitution and established Supreme Court doctrine.

⚖️ Discretionary Twilight Zone
42 / 100 friction index
Dimension 1 • Art. I, §1 & §8

Legislative Encroachment & Purse

Low Friction

Operates within delegated statutory execution without modifying legislative appropriations or taxing powers.

Benchmark: Power of the purse, taxes/tariffs, and rule of law reserved to Congress.
Dimension 2 • Art. II, §1 & §3

Executive Scope & Faithfulness

Moderate Friction

Directs internal executive branch machinery, agency workflows, and federal personnel.

Benchmark: Faithfully execute laws enacted by Congress vs. unilateral decree.
Dimension 3 • 10th Amendment

Federalism & State Sovereignty

High Friction

Creates friction with the Tenth Amendment by conditioning state grants, mandating local compliance, or preempting state police powers.

Benchmark: Police powers and un-delegated responsibilities reserved to the States.
Dimension 4 • 5th & 14th Amendments

Due Process & Individual Rights

Low Friction

Focuses on internal governmental operations with no direct impairment of private rights or property.

Benchmark: Protection of private property, contracts, liberty, and procedural justice.
Dimension 5 • Separation of Powers

Youngstown Jacksonian Tier

Moderate Friction

The order relies on inherent Article II executive discretion, civil service management, or foreign diplomacy where Congress has neither expressly approved nor prohibited action.

Benchmark: Concurrent Authority / Congressional Silence
⚖️ Audit Synthesis

This order operates within Justice Jackson’s Zone of Twilight, resting upon concurrent presidential authority or congressional silence.

Weighted composite: Art. I (25%), Art. II (25%), Federalism (15%), Due Process (15%), Youngstown (20%).
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How to read these dimensions: Executive power expands whenever an administration acts without explicit statutory authorization from Congress (Article I), touches upon police powers historically reserved to the states (Tenth Amendment), or limits private rights and property without judicial process. A low friction score indicates strict concordance with enacted law; a high friction score highlights orders testing the limits of presidential discretion.
Total Words
655
4,045 characters
Estimated Read Time
3 min
@ 200 words / min
Flesch-Kincaid
11.3
High School
Language Tone Score
+0.02
Constitutional Neutral
How is this scored?
Text size:

Official Archival Text

View Source Document

WHEREAS the State of Alaska has this day been admitted to the Union; and WHEREAS chapter 1 of title 4 of the United States Code provides that a star shall be added to the union of the flag of the United States upon the admission of a new State into the Union and provides that that addition to the flag shall take effect on the fourth day of July then next succeeding the admission of that State; and WHEREAS the interests of the Government require that orderly and reasonable provision be made for certain features of the flag:

NOW, THEREFORE, #now-therefore

under and by virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows: SECTION 1. Proportions. National flags and union jacks for all departments and other agencies of the executive branch of the Government (hereinafter referred to as executive agencies) shall conform to the following proportions: Hoist (width) of flag------------------ 1 Fly (length) of flag ------------------ 1.9 Hoist (width) of union ---------------- 0.5385 (7/13) Fly (length) of union ----------------- 0.76 Width of each stripe ------------------ 0.0769 (1/13) Such further proportions as are set forth on the attachment hereto. That attachment is hereby made a part of this order. SEC. 2. Sizes. (a) Flags manufactured or purchased for executive agencies shall be limited to those having hoists as follows: (1) -------------------- 20 feet (2) -------------------- 19 feet (3) -------------------- 14.35 feet (4) -------------------- 12.19 feet (5) -------------------- 10 feet (6) -------------------- 8.94 feet (7) -------------------- 5.14 feet (8) -------------------- 5 feet (9) -------------------- 3.52 feet (10) ------------------- 2.90 feet (11) ------------------- 2.37 feet (12) ------------------- 1.31 feet (b) Union jacks manufactured or purchased for executive agencies shall be limited to those the hoists of which correspond to the hoists of the unions of flags of sizes herein authorized. The size of the union jack flown with the national flag shall be the same as the size of the union of that national flag. SEC. 3. Position of stars. The position of each star of the union of the flag, and of the union jack, shall be as indicated on the attachment hereto. SEC. 4. Public inquiries. Interested persons may direct inquiries concerning this order to the Quartermaster General of the Army. Inquiries relating to the procurement of national flags by executive agencies other than the Department of Defense may be directed to the General Services Administration. SEC. 5. Applicability; prior flag and jack. (a) All national flags and union jacks manufactured or purchased for the use of executive agencies after the date of this order shall conform strictly to the provisions of sections 1 to 3, inclusive, of this order. (b) The colors carried by troops, and camp colors, shall be of the sizes prescribed by the Secretary of Defense for the armed forces of the United States and the sizes of those colors shall not be subject to the provisions of this order. (c) Subject to such limited exceptions as the Secretary of Defense, in respect of the Department of Defense, and the Administrator of General Services, in respect of executive agencies other than the Department of Defense, may approve, all national flags and union jacks now in the possession of executive agencies, or hereafter acquired, under contracts awarded prior to the date of this order, by executive agencies, including those so possessed or so acquired by the General Services Administration for distribution to other executive agencies, shall be utilized until unserviceable. SEC. 6. The flag prescribed by this order shall become the official flag under chapter 1 of title 4 of the United States Code as of July 4, 1959. SEC. 7. Revocation. Executive Order No. 2390 of May 29, 1916, is hereby revoked. SEC. 8. This order shall be published in the FEDERAL REGISTER. DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER

THE WHITE HOUSE, #signature

January 3, 1959.

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Referenced By Later Executive Orders (1)

Subsequent presidents who cited, amended, continued, or revoked this directive in later orders.

Dwight D. Eisenhower • 1959-08-21
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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 10,798 (Jan. 3, 1959), https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-10798-flag-the-united-states.