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06/07/06, 09:43 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 30
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Proper place for a damaged flag
Hi,
Our American flag was damaged due to the storm the other day. I know one way to properly dispose of it is to burn the flag. Someone has said that you can bury the flag. Does anyone know if that is true?
Thanks for your help,
Joe
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06/07/06, 09:46 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 414
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The proper way to dispose of a flag is to cut it up so that it's no longer a flag. Then you can do as you like with it because it's not a flag any more.
Normally you just cut the blue field and stars away from the stripes.
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06/07/06, 10:00 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Farmersville, Texas
Posts: 82
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Cut the stars apart from the stripes then burn the pieces seperate.
__________________
For those who fought for it, Freedom holds a special flavor the protected will never know.
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06/07/06, 10:40 PM
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Moderator
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Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 9,511
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In our town, you can take a damaged or faded flag to the American Legion. They have a flag burning ceremony once a year, which is very moving and cool to view.
They burn at least a hundred flags a year.
clove
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06/07/06, 10:44 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: West Central Indiana
Posts: 290
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It all depends on your patriotism really. If it's a big thing to you, then you should take it to your nearest american legion, where it will be destroyed with proper honors. If it's not a big deal, then shred it up for rags, or some other neat looking kraft.
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06/08/06, 06:16 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: ky
Posts: 545
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The flag should be burned......
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06/08/06, 07:19 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,807
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Our American Legion actually has an old mailbox set up for the purpose of old flag collection. You just drop in your tattered flag, and they have the flag burning ceremony.
Burning is the preferred method of flag disposal, according to the US Flag Code:
http://www.usflag.org/uscode36.html
"(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."
Pony!
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06/08/06, 07:26 AM
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Join Date: May 2006
Location: WV
Posts: 634
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Or check with your local Boy Scouts, ours does the flag burning ceremony too.
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06/08/06, 08:03 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Missouri
Posts: 1,243
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Flag Day - June 14
With Flag Day coming up next week, I know our VFW chapter is having a disposal ceremony for damaged flags. They will take your flags at any time during the year and save them for their ceremony.
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06/08/06, 08:13 AM
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A man's man
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: southern Iowa
Posts: 1,523
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better get it done soon. the senate is due to discuss an amendment to the constitution that may prohibit the burnning of flags in this country.
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06/08/06, 08:22 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 3,693
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The whole issue is respect. Respect in flying it, respect for what it stands for, and respect for it as an expired symbol.
The American flag is often burned by protestors. There is no respect in that burning.
If you bury the flag with respect, you are keeping with the spirit of respect for the flag, and what it stands for.
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06/08/06, 08:31 AM
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Florida Pan Handle
Posts: 2,130
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No So!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by bob clark
better get it done soon. the senate is due to discuss an amendment to the constitution that may prohibit the burnning of flags in this country.
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No Bob - the amendment is to prohibit the desecration of the flag by burning it in contempt of our country and what it stands for. The proper way to "dispose" of a flag of the United States of America is to burn it - sort of like a cremation rather than let this symbol be used/abused in a way to dishonor it. And, yes, I know that it is a symbol only but to so many of us, it symbolizes the freedoms that "Americans" have been willing to die for. The burning of our flag is a solemn event (many make it into a ceremony) - not an act of protest of our government.
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06/08/06, 08:43 AM
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Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 5,553
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If you don't have a nearby American Legion, you could check at your local library and see if they have a copy of the Boy Scouts hand book, it has the procedure for flag burning cemerony.
Sad that there are people who do not know what the flag stands for and why it should never be dishonored.
Marlene
__________________
It is the one with persistence and determination that brings great ideas into being.
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06/08/06, 09:03 AM
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A man's man
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: southern Iowa
Posts: 1,523
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Gercarson
No Bob - the amendment is to prohibit the desecration of the flag by burning it in contempt of our country and what it stands for. The proper way to "dispose" of a flag of the United States of America is to burn it - sort of like a cremation rather than let this symbol be used/abused in a way to dishonor it. And, yes, I know that it is a symbol only but to so many of us, it symbolizes the freedoms that "Americans" have been willing to die for. The burning of our flag is a solemn event (many make it into a ceremony) - not an act of protest of our government.
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i understand what you are saying. so it comes down to intent? how will they disallow the protest while allowing the respectfull retiering of flags?
i see it as a 1st amendment issue. as revolting as flag burning as a form of protest is to me. we must not in any way strip away at our freedoms by restricting speech. putting the flag itself over the freedom of speach is a form of idolitry in my oppinion. this is not a simple issue and deserves a lot of thought from us all
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06/08/06, 09:46 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 414
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I suppose it was bound to come to this: what is respectful and what is not?
Speaking personally, as a veteran: I will defend to the death your right to burn a flag in protest. But if I personally witness you desecrating an American flag, I will excercise my right of self-expression by punching you in the nose.
That said, if you have a flag that is damaged, toss it in the trash and buy a new one. Treating a bit of cloth with some sort of superstitious reverence is the definition of idolatry. The cloth means nothing. Your intent when dealing with the symbol that the bit of cloth represents is what's important. Burn it to make a politcal point and I'll go to jail for beating you up. Toss it in the trash because it's worn out and I could care less.
Surely I'm not the only one who sees the difference?
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06/08/06, 09:50 AM
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A man's man
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: southern Iowa
Posts: 1,523
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Dubai Vol
I suppose it was bound to come to this: what is respectful and what is not?
Speaking personally, as a veteran: I will defend to the death your right to burn a flag in protest. But if I personally witness you desecrating an American flag, I will excercise my right of self-expression by punching you in the nose.
That said, if you have a flag that is damaged, toss it in the trash and buy a new one. Treating a bit of cloth with some sort of superstitious reverence is the definition of idolatry. The cloth means nothing. Your intent when dealing with the symbol that the bit of cloth represents is what's important. Burn it to make a politcal point and I'll go to jail for beating you up. Toss it in the trash because it's worn out and I could care less.
Surely I'm not the only one who sees the difference?
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very well said
in our family we hav always burnt them in a resectfull manner when they no longer looked new
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06/08/06, 12:22 PM
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Hiccoughs after eating
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: mid-MI
Posts: 1,003
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We've never had a flag, nor do we plan on getting one. I think the flag is in too many places all at once, and that is why it has lost the respect it used to have. It's been commercialized like all of the major holidays. There are flags on pins, blankets, hats, notebooks, pens, pants, shirts, jackets, advertisements for anything and everything, games, cards, dishes, vases, birdhouses, calendars, stuffed animals, hanky's... and so much more! There are GINORMOUS flags flying over car dealerships that sell Japanese vehicles. Little, brittle paper flags adorn sidewalks, floats, people's hair, and every pokeable surface around the 4th of July. People leave their house flags (usually tattered, ripped, etc) hanging 24 hours a day 365, through rain, snow, hail, and sunshine.
After all of THAT disrespect to a once revered symbol of the US... it's such a joke to have a serious discussion of how best to dispose of a flag. I say just throw it in the trash. Or do you all seriously have a solemn bonfire to dispose of your flag napkins, plates, cups, decorations, socks, etc after every 4th of July?
(For you flamers, yes, I respect what the flag stands for, but I will not idolize a piece of paper or cloth just because it has the familiar stars and stripes.)
__________________
Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
Mark Twain
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06/08/06, 04:28 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: A short way past Oddville
Posts: 1,247
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My prefered choice would be to wrap it around another 500 pounder and drop it when Osama takes a break from the stresses of jihad with some of his buds. If he's gonna show up in heaven as a martyr may as well show up with a stars and stripes turban.
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~Only the rocks live forever~
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06/08/06, 04:57 PM
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Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Austin-ish, Texas
Posts: 5,000
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reusing old flags?
Is it considered bad form to just fashion the fabric into something else, like curtains, for example? It seems to me that frugal reuse would show a true patriotism. In other words, the flag is infinitely valuable and symbolic.
__________________
"Perhaps I'll have them string a clothesline from the hearse I am in, with my underwear waving in the breeze, as we drive to the cemetary. People worry about the dumbest things!"
by Wendy
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06/08/06, 05:02 PM
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: sc
Posts: 2,638
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Every Boy Scouts of America Troop should be willing and able to take care of a flag no longer fit for service. You can search online for the nearest one, or call the local media. My boys have done this annually for years. Not only is it a service they provide, it is a valuable learning experience for the boys.
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