---
type: "LegalText"
title: "36 U.S.C. § 21701"
description: "Organization"
jurisdiction: "us"
corpus: "united_states_code"
kind: "code_section"
title_number: 36
title_name: "PATRIOTIC AND NATIONAL OBSERVANCES, CEREMONIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS"
chapter_number: "217"
chapter_name: "THE AMERICAN LEGION"
section: "21701"
citation: "36 U.S.C. § 21701"
status: "current"
release_point: "119-100"
release_date: "2026-06-26"
source: "official"
source_url: "https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc36@119-100.zip"
source_identifier: "/us/usc/t36/s21701"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-36/usc36.xml"
source_hash: "db00af3ad91a30e2e94e3cbb4f47c7cf30c466647081ce3114435421527aebfa"
raw_snapshot_hash: "d8bb3c94f12bbd56e49d7a2bc029b1f4ab0bb8b69327e9ddbdf94d7adcac580d"
text_hash: "c327707ab5dea0244ff566d3f057baddd233d3e6528dbb7b8fdd0a348c2bba3e"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 36 U.S.C. § 21701 - Organization

## Text

(a) Federal Charter.— The American Legion (in this chapter, the “corporation”) is a federally chartered corporation.

(b) Perpetual Existence.— Except as otherwise provided, the corporation has perpetual existence.

(Pub. L. 105–225, Aug. 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1297.)

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 21701(a)36:41.Sept. 16, 1919, ch. 59, §§ 1, 2, 41 Stat. 284.  36:42.  21701(b)36:44 (words before 4th semicolon related to perpetual succession).Sept. 16, 1919, ch. 59, § 4 (words before 4th semicolon related to perpetual succession), 41 Stat. 285; June 26, 1953, ch. 153, § 1, 67 Stat. 82. This section is substituted for the source provisions for consistency in the revised title and to eliminate unnecessary and obsolete language.