My US Flag is worn and the hemming started to come out, so it was time to put up a new flag and donate my old flag to a US Flag for Retirement ceremony.
First of all, never toss a US flag in the trash. That is totally wrong plus it is disrespectful to the country. There are actually detailed online directions on how to dispose of a US flag. Plus, there are also online videos showing actual procedures/ceremonies. Proper US flag retirement should be done in a dignified way preferably by burning. However, there seems to be more than one way to retire a flag.
The first suggestion the internet gave, if possible, is to wash and mend the flag. Well, for my particular flag that isn’t realistic since the material is old and faded. This year, I put up a brand new flag on my flag post.
US Flag Disposal
There are also many governmental agencies and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts which have flag disposal boxes you can place a flag in. Then, they take care of it from there. Also, American Legions, VFW posts, Girl and Boy Scouts perform flag retirement ceremonies.
Ending Blog on US Flag Retirement
I remember years ago when my friend went to a Boy’s Scout Summer Day Camp at Lake Fairfax, I noticed they were burning the retired US flags in a ceremony. That retirement ceremony was very special to me and respectful.
So, I wanted to retire my US flag to the Boy Scouts. However, the issue is I do not know any Boy Scouts. So, I left the folded flag with a note on it for the Boy Scouts. I’ll check back to make sure someone picks my flag up.
I want to make sure my US flag gets a good retirement ceremony since it was with me during the COVID Pandemic and flew almost daily.
Anyway, one interesting flag fact I found online is that US flags have been folded in a triangular shape since the Revolutionary War. The solders wore three corner hats that came in a triangular shaped box. The triangular folded flag would fit neatly into those triangular hat boxes.
In ending, thank you Boy Scouts, in advance, for retiring my old, worn US flag.