American Legion shares proper flag care
Tomorrow is Flag Day and the American Legion is holding a flag retirement ceremony.
The American Flag is a symbol of freedom and patriotism. On this Flag Day, the veterans at the American Legion remind us that proper flag care is an essential sign of respect and patriotism.
The American Flag was adopted on June 14th, 1777. In 1949, an act of Congress officially established Flag Day. The American Legion will hold a flag retirement ceremony on Flag Day and the public is welcome to attend.
According to American Legion Post 119 Commander Ted Moulding, flag care includes several factors including flag folding, handling, and retirement. Chelsea Levasseur, his second vice, says the ceremony is a time to remember what the American flag means. Moulding said, “In order to properly dispose of a flag, you do a ceremony which we’re going to do tomorrow evening. You properly burn the flag as a retirement ceremony out of respect for the flag and what it did for us. They normally do a flag in what they call a tri fold, and you need to stretch it out, flip it in half, fold it again in half, and then you start a triangle fold, cutting it across making a triangle. That is the proper way to put it away.”
It is important to know how to care for and dispose of an American flag, but it’s also important to understand why flag care is so important. Veterans at the American Legion say it is a matter of honor. Levasseur said, “Whenever you have an opportunity to be able to represent the flag, and give all that you have into a ceremony like this. To actually, take back from the everyday and be like wait a minute, the flag means this much to me, this country means a lot to me. It’s just a really nice opportunity to get to do that.”
The flag retirement ceremony will be held at the American Legion Post 119 on Highway 49 at 6 p.m.
