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Flag Day offers chance to reflect on powerful symbol
Published Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Sunday, June 14 marks Flag Day, a day set aside by Congress to recognize the American symbol and to serve as a reminder for what it stands for and the etiquette and treatment it deserves.
In an effort to better mark this day, The Advertiser will present a full page, full color flag in our Weekend edition, along with a page, sponsored by local businesses, offering a number of trivia questions about the American flag.
While the questions serve as a reader contest, it also serves as an education tool, giving details and facts that some may not know.
Over the past few years, I have had the chance to learn a lot more about our flag than just what the red and white stripes depict. By the way, they represent the original 13 colonies.
One such lesson came from covering a flag retirement ceremony conducted by a group of Boy Scouts. In my last job in Alexander City, we proudly displayed a flag outside our office nearly every day. And, over those nearly six years, we went through a number of flags.
The sun and rain would weather the flags, tattering the ends and fading the colors. The weathering would require us to replace the flag, but it was a must on our part, not to just put it in a closet or throw it a way. We made a point to give the flags, folded, to the Boy Scouts.
In watching the care and precision they Boy Scouts and their leaders gave the donated flags as they cut them apart in the proper way and then quietly placed them on an open fire was a touching ceremony. Not because of what the flag was but for what it represented. And, seeing these boys learn that lesson at such an early age was awe-inspiring.
I hope you enjoy the interesting facts and rules on displaying the flag and history that will be presented in this weekend’s coverage.
The flag is a proud symbol for America, but the rights, privileges and opportunity for life and liberty is even more impressive.
- You can reach Tim by email at tim.reeves@clantonadvertiser.com
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Comments
Posted by November162000 (anonymous) on June 10, 2009 at 10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Very good editorial, Tim. You can tell a lot about how a person, or a business, respects their country by the way they treat their country's flag. When you see a flag in front of someone's home or business that is faded and ragged and neglected, or hanging by just one attach point and is left that way indefinitely, then you see on display their respect for their country. The same thing applies to government agencies that have flags displayed. Having participated in several military funerals either as part of an honor guard, flag folder, or rifleman, I pay attention to those things. How you treat the flag matters folks. If people don't have the time or desire to treat the flag with proper respect and attention, then they really should just not have one at all. The service that the Boy Scouts and others provide in putting old flags out of service is important, and it teaches them proper respect for a symbol that deserves just that.
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