When marching in the military flags which order do they come in?

Question

I see on tv that on stages and other places that the army, marines, navy, air force, and coast guard. but other places they have them all in no order. which is right?

Answer 1

After some digging......

The order of precedence when displaying military flags together is Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard. Except that Coast Guard moves up right behind Navy when the Coast Guard serves as a service of the Dept of the Navy in time of war.

The basic citation is Department of Defense Directive 1005.8. It's promulgated down the line in various service directives.

For the Marines its Chapter 12 of U.S. Navy Regulations and NAVMC 2691, the Marine Corps Drill Manual.

Army comes first because it was created first--14 June 1775. Marines come second because, even though they were created a month after the Navy (10 Nov vs. 13 Oct 1775), some Secretary of the Navy accorded them precedence back in the days before defense unification (late 1800s).

The Merchant Marine, Vietnam Veterans, and POW/MIA flags can be displayed following the military flags.  There is some latitude in the order of display regarding these three flags.  Our government has not officially recognized the Merchant Marines as being a branch of the military (its members are often not given veteran's status), but it is appropriate to honor them as a military branch and thus have placed their flag at the end of the military branches.

Answer 2

The US Flag Code does not cover a specific order for military flags.  Only the US flag and the flags of foreign/visiting nations are discussed.

Answer 3

The order you have listed is correct