Hello everyone,

i think it's one of the most frequently asked question during public evenings observation that i use to organize.

You guide your telescope to the Moon and you can be sure that someone will ask you

Can i see the USA flag?

The answer is "No!". It's not possible viewing the American Flag on the Moon because of some factors that don't allow it

First of all, the atmosphere: more you will zoom in, bigger you will see The Moon... but also bigger you will see the "mistakes" of our atmosphere (the turbolence). Secondly, the distance related to the dimension of the flag (384 000 km against 4-5 meters). In the end, there is no instruments or scopes that allow you to resolve little details like the flag. Neither the Hubble Space Telescope can do it!

In conclusion, no, it's not possible to view the American Flag directly from the Earth.  

You also can find this little article in Italian language (articolo in Italiano) HERE