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Are there guidelines on the protocol to honor Kenya’s flag?

Al KagsMe

I am very passionate about two of our national symbols – The Flag of Kenya and the Kenya National Anthem. So passionate am I that my suits (always made to measure), always have a flag on them. I know that I share this passion together with many other Kenyans and I single out my friends Daudi Were and Alison Ngibuini for the near fanatical passion for these national symbols. 

Today, I had an appointment at the office of an international organisation and I was forced to wait a while in the reception. Soon after settling in, I observed that the flags were placed in this manner:


I was mortified. The flag of Kenya. Was placed on the shortest pole. The UK flag on the tallest pole (and this was not even a UK organisation!). When I raised the issue, I realised that majority of Kenyans – forget all others 

They rectified it as I stood there when I insisted and they confessed that they had no idea. 

So today my thought of the day is this: now that we all own the Kenya flag and can display it freely do we know how? Are there guidelines? I checked online for global guidelines and wikipedia had this. 

And on numerous occassions we see the flag flying in a sorry state in official places like police stations – dirty and even torn in some instances, do we have some enforcement mechanism to protect the display of the flag in a way that elevates us as a country?

I am looking for these guidelines. Please point me in their directions if you know of them. If not, which agency of government do we engage?

For the US, I found this. For Canada, I found this. For the UK I found this. 

Whats there for Kenya?

  2. I may not know the guideline location, but here are three things i know about a national flag:
    1. It must never touch the ground. So many times I've seen event organizers dragging the flag on the ground as they set it up. I once used to setup flags at an organization i worked for, and if the flag was too long, I would use selotape and pins to ensure that it did not sag to the ground. It must not touch the ground. If you what when the flag is being brought down at 6pm at a chiefs camp, the AP rests it on the shoulder as he unties it. It must not touch the ground.

    2. You never burn a flag. Even if its old and tartered, you don't burn it. I'm not sure how they get rid of the ones made in the 70's, but even if its burnt, its in enclosure or in private. Public burning of flags is seen as disrespect which is why people burn foreign flags when they protest.

    3. If you are at an official event, I believe the host flag is on the right. If you are within an Embassy, the national flag of that country is on the right since technically you are being hosted by the foreign country. If you are out and about in the country, Kenya flag is on the right and other on the left.

    I agree, it would be great if the official flag was fully described in mordern day terms e.g. RGB or Pantone colour so that it is always exact, and even ratio of the white vs the other colors. Also, if there was a guideline on "offical sizes" it wouild leave room for many of us to hoist an "un-official size" flag in our houses to celebrate this national symbol, without being arrested for pretending to be Serikal.

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