---
type: "LegalText"
title: "36 U.S.C. § 21702"
description: "Purposes"
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: "21702"
citation: "36 U.S.C. § 21702"
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/s21702"
source_file: "data/legal/raw/us/code/title-36/usc36.xml"
source_hash: "9e8a28b2cdf6e6c95f7077ad97019a07935b840208986c4637e5d208a970c36b"
raw_snapshot_hash: "d8bb3c94f12bbd56e49d7a2bc029b1f4ab0bb8b69327e9ddbdf94d7adcac580d"
text_hash: "8511f90699283429e31d5ba0a87d1c5687183c1324995afe926d08607a541a3b"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-04"
confidence: "official"
tags: ["legal", "us-code"]
---

# 36 U.S.C. § 21702 - Purposes

## Text

The purposes of the corporation are—

(1) to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States;

(2) to promote peace and good will among the peoples of the United States and all the nations of the Earth;

(3) to preserve the memories and incidents of the 2 World Wars and the other great hostilities fought to uphold democracy;

(4) to cement the ties and comradeship born of service; and

(5) to consecrate the efforts of its members to mutual helpfulness and service to their country.

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

## Notes

Historical and Revision Notes RevisedSectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 2170236:43.Sept. 16, 1919, ch. 59, § 3, 41 Stat. 285; Oct. 29, 1942, ch. 633, § 1, 56 Stat. 1012; July 26, 1955, ch. 386, § 1, 69 Stat. 379; Sept. 1, 1966, Pub. L. 89–550, § 1, 80 Stat. 371. In clause (1), the words “of America” are omitted.