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Back to the Forum 2006
Archives For those who are interested in the American flag protocols,
here is the link you need. I became interested in flag protocol when I discovered my flag had worn out. It had become rather tattered and I realized I had to do something. I also understood that the flag ought to be treated with respect. Sure, our constitution protects A-holes who spit upon and burn our flag, but I don't want to be one of them. In Korea, soldiers died to protect the rights of those A-holes and our flag. I know, I was there. I was lucky. I came back with nary a scratch. Believe me, who comes back and who does not is strictly a matter of luck. I can liken being on a battlefield to trying to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge wearing a blindfold. You don't know what is going to hit you or where it will come from. You just know if you stay out there long enough it will hit you. So, even though you know it's silly, you walk in a crouch and hope to make it back. Now that I'm safe at home, I want to honor my flag even when we have a madman for a president. I still want to treat my flag with respect and fly it proudly. Sure, I fly it at half staff now and I will until all our kids are home safe, but I will fly it. I will also not fly a flag that is tattered or soiled. To take care of flags that have worn out, our local VFW guys say, bring it to us, we will give it the proper disposal. I'm sure they do, but I wanted to know what was the proper disposal. Anyone should be able to do it right. It's simply a matter of knowing what to do. So, I found the Betsy site. I did learn about how to dispose of a flag and many other things. Here is the Q & A for flag disposal. My flag is old and ready to be retired. What should I do? Heck, I can do that myself. I still know the original pledge of allegiance and all the word to the National Anthem. The key here is with proper respect. Other things you can learn from this site is how to fold the flag and how to display the flag in any conceivable situation. There are 14 paragraphs on how to display the flag covering 1 & 1/2 pages. Now this site cites the Flag Code as the proper source of how to display and care for the flag. The words "Flag Code" sound like this is law, but it is not. There is no penalty for violating the Flag Code although politicians from time to time have tried to enact such penalties. So far they have not been successful. Even though flag burners incite my ire, I think it is correct to let the swine be swine and let decent people ignore them. The truth is, I myself am in violation of the Flag Code when I fly my flag at half-staff. Here is the pertinent item on that. Should I fly my flag at half-mast today? So there! I am in violation because I fly my flag at half staff every day. As I said, I will continue to do that until all or kids are safe at home. You can find the rest of the information on the Betsy site yourself, but you may find this list of the special days to fly the flag useful. The flag should be displayed on all days, especially on
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