How do you honorably retire an American Flag?
I've heard people say you should burn the flag to retire it. But this seems wrong? Are there any ceremonies that should be preformed first to preserve our flags honor?
Public Comments
- Here is a link that talks about Flag rules and regulations: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html
- Actually burning them is the correct way to dispose of them..but there are guidelines and ceremonies to perform this...call your local American Legion they can help ya.
- BRING IT TO YOUR LOCAL V.F.W. OR AMERICAN LEGION, AND THEY WILL TAKE IT FOR YOU.
- Burning is the proper way to dispose of it. Contact your local VFW or American Legion. Most will take care of it for you if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself.
- Yes, VFW or look it up. http://www.ushistory.org/betsy
- This seems a good question... I wonder if you are talking about a flag you personally fly or one that's seen 'public service'? In the latter case there probably is an approved way of doing it but I'm afraid, as an outsider I can;t help you there. When British military flags (we don't have quite the same attachment to our national flag!) are retired they actually get presented to the 'home' church of the unit... If it is a 'personal' flag (and depending how often they have to be replaced) and I were an American I think I'd have it carefully cleaned if necessary, fold it up, write a note with the dates it 'served' and summarise national events it 'witnessed' during its life, as well as accounts of home celebrations etc, and perhaps even copies of photos etc. Then, put them away in a suitable bag, box or other container and store them in a chest, the loft or wherever you have the space. The flag then becomes not only a national symbol but a piece of living history for future generations in your family.
- BURN IT ON THE POLE !
- fold it respectfully (in the triangle) place it in plastic and bary it
- u know i have seen on tv newstations, where people of other countries burn the american flags as disrespect to americans for reasons of medling into their countries affairs, and ur saying to retire a flag is to burn it, dont sound right, now dose it, why not seal it up in a plasic bag and bury it in a flag cematary..........................
- MANY VFWs AND AMERICAN LEGIONs HAVE FLAG CEREMONIES TWO OR THREE TIMES A YEAR. I BELIEVE THE FLAGS ARE BURNED RESPECTFULLY AND THE ASHES ARE BROUGHT OUT TO SEA.
- i was in the honor guard and we never burned our flags. if it is dropped on the floor you wash it. if it gets a hole you sew it up. if it is no longer useful then you put it away and get a new one. If you want to preserve the old one you can hang it on your wall as a banner or wallcarpet. or fold it up in tradtional form and put it in a plaque or casing. We had no ceremonies to retire any of our flags in the six years I was in the elite honour guard of my unit. Both in the field and on homeland bases we never had a ceremony. There is only seven American Flags in US hhistory that got saved due to significance. And of those seven, five were continued to be used after the event that made them famous. And none of those flags ever had a retirement tradition. they were just put taken down. The only things that saved them was a few guys that had sentimental values related to those flags, they asked to keep the flags instead of letting them get recycled like the rest.
