CIRCLE PINES, Minn. – (April 20, 2015) – In the early 1900s there were no state or federal regulations regarding the display of the United States Flag. Then in 1942, Congress passed a joint resolution establishing a national flag code. It includes information about keeping the flag off the ground, lighting a flag that is displayed after sundown, and proper folding procedures. It also dictates that when a flag is no longer a fitting emblem, it should be destroyed.
On Monday, local Boy Scout Troop 65 gathered with other civic groups to retire American flags.
This came about as a result of the local lion’s club coming to us, The Circle-Lex Lions. They had a number of flags that they wanted to retire and they were looking for someone to partner with and they thought, who better than the Boy Scouts. And so we jumped at the opportunity because it’s a great learning experience for these guys and a great way for them to get some visibility in the community too and to take part in a really important civic affair,” said Matt Percy, a Troop 65 volunteer.
The boy scouts had been preparing for this night for a long time, both academically and physically.
“We ended up talking about why it’s important to retire a flag which has outlived its usefulness, why it’s important to retire it properly according to the US code, and why it’s important to our country and us as citizens. We went through multiple rehearsals leading up to this point.”
So, they lit a fire and gathered around.
“We have one flag that we are going to be retiring as part of the formal ceremony. We are partnering with the Lions who are going to be in speaking roles, some of the Scouts are in a speaking role. We also have the Centennial Fire [District] Honor Guard here and they are going to be lowering the flag and also raising a new flag for us,” said Percy.
According to United States Flag code, once a flag is no longer is a fitting condition, it should be destroyed in a dignified way. The flag code specifies that burning is the preferred method.
“The proper procedure for disposing of the flag is to cut it into individual pieces. In this case we do all thirteen stripes separately and then the field of stars, which is the last one to be burned. Each piece is individually laid in the fire and we have speakers here who will be doing an invocation for each piece that is laid in the fire.”
As the invocations were read, the flag was cut, and slowly and carefully, it was burned.
They remembered the service of this flag, and people throughout the history of our nation who died serving their country. That night, they retired about 30 flags total. The remaining flags were retired in an informal ceremony. The flags for the evening had been collected by the Lions from civic groups and individuals.
