Flag etiquette for the 4th of July, 2021

July 4, 2021

Did you really need a reminder to fly your flag today? The elves and bookworms at Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub were hoping to get a whole weekend off . . .

A few questions came my way this morning at a gathering. So, this post from 14 years ago seems appropriate.

Every kid should learn this stuff by third grade, but it’s clear from what we see that they don’t.

Flag flying in front of U.S. Capitol (East side) LOC photo

So here’s a quick review of dos and don’ts for display and behavior toward the U.S. flag on this most flag-worthy of days, the 4th of July. With a few comments.

1. Fly your flag, from sunup to sundown. If you’re lucky enough to have a flagpole, run the flag up quickly. Retire it slowly at sunset. Then go see fireworks.

2. Display flags appropriately, if not flown from a staff. If suspended from a building or a wall, remember the blue field of stars should always be on its right — the “northwest corner” as you look at it. Do not display a flag flat.

3. Salute the flag as it opens the 4th of July parade. In a better world, there would be just one U.S. flag at the opening of the parade, and the entire crowd would rise as it passes them in a great patriotic, emotional wave — civilians with their hands over their hearts, hats off; people in uniform saluting appropriately with hats on. It’s likely that your local parade will not be so crisp. Other entries in the parade will have flags, and many will be displayed inappropriately. A true patriot might rise and salute each one — but that would look silly, perhaps even sillier than those sunshine patriots who display the flag inappropriately. Send them a nice letter this year, correcting their behavior. But don’t be obnoxious about it.

4. Do not display the flag from a car antenna, attached to a window of a car, or attached in the back of a truck. That’s against the Flag Code, which says a flag can only be displayed attached to the right front fender of a car, usually with a special attachment. This means that a lot of the National Guard entries in local parades will be wrongly done, according to the flag code. They defend the flag, and we should not make pests of ourselves about it. Write them a letter commending their patriotism. Enclose the Flag Code, and ask them to stick to it next time. Innocent children are watching.

5. Do not dishonor the flag by abusing it or throwing it on the ground. It’s become popular for a local merchant to buy a lot of little plastic flags and pass them out to parade goers. If there is an advertisement on the flag, that is another violation of the Flag Code. The flag should not be used for such commercial purposes. I have, several times, found piles of these flags on the ground, dumped by tired people who were passing them out, or dumped by parade goers who didn’t want to carry the things home. It doesn’t matter if it’s printed on cheap plastic, and made in China — it is our nation’s flag anyway. Honor it. If it is worn, dispose of it soberly, solemnly, and properly.

That’s probably enough for today. When the Flag Desecration Amendment passes — if it ever does — those parade float makers, National Guard soldiers, and merchants, can all be jailed, perhaps. Or punished in other ways.

Until that time, our best hope is to review the rules, obey them, and set examples for others.

Have a wonderful 4th of July! Fly the flag. Read the Declaration of Independence out loud. Love your family, hug them, and feed them well. That’s part of the Pursuit of Happiness that this day honors. It is your right, your unalienable right. Use it wisely, often and well.

1 Comment | 1776, 4th of July, Accuracy, First Amendment, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, History | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Beto O’Rourke, on kneeling for national anthem

August 23, 2018

U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-Texas (El Paso) in a House committee hearing room. Relevant Magazine image.

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas (El Paso) in a House committee hearing room. Relevant Magazine image.

U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke reaches out to every Texan in his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Ted Cruz. O’Rourke already visited all 254 Texas counties, listening to Texans tell him what is important in their lives.

Now Beto conducts town hall meetings.

Recently a Texan asked him about NFL players’ kneeling during the national anthem.

Does his answer surprise you? It reveals the thought he’s put into issues.

Tip of the old scrub brush to Now This! on Twitter.

4 Comments | Civil Rights, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, History, Patriotism | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Fly your flag today, another way of giving thanks

November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving is one of the days designated in the Flag Code for Americans to fly their U.S. flags.  I know it’s cold — think of the veterans in the snows of Korea, the snows of Finland, or Valley Forge.  Go fly that flag!

U.S. flag flying at the Post Office in Mooresville, Alabama. This is the oldest operating post office in the state. Image from Original Green

U.S. flag flying at the Post Office in Mooresville, Alabama. This is the oldest operating post office in the state. Image from Original Green

Last year I noted some of the history of the holiday — check out that post.

In 1782, the 2nd Continental Congress declared a thanks giving on November 28.  Here’s the notice from a New Hampshire newspaper.

State of New-Hampshire. In Committee of Safety, Exeter, November 1, 1782 : Ordered, that the following proclamation for a general thanksgiving on the twenty-eighth day of November instant, received from the honorable Continental Congress, be forthwith printed ...

State of New-Hampshire. In Committee of Safety, Exeter, November 1, 1782 : Ordered, that the following proclamation for a general thanksgiving on the twenty-eighth day of November instant, received from the honorable Continental Congress, be forthwith printed …  From the American Memories Collection at the Library of Congress.

So let Old Glory free, today.

Leave a Comment » | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Thanksgiving | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Flag day June 14? Heck! Fly it all week!

June 11, 2013

“The American Flag”, music by L.S.D. Rees and words by J.B. Dickson, 1862. Music Division, Library of Congress

President Barack Obama proclaimed the week of June 9 through 16 National Flag Week, in anticipation of Flag Day, June 14.

Boy Scouts from Troop 123 stand together during a Flag Day ceremony Thursday, June 14, 2012 at Veterans Memorial Park in Peru, Ill.

Boy Scouts from Troop 123 stand together during a Flag Day ceremony Thursday, June 14, 2012 at Veterans Memorial Park in Peru, Ill. Photo and caption from Reactions

Fly your U.S. flag all week!

Of course, you may fly your state and local flags, too.

June 14 commemorates the day the first resolution was passed designating the stars and stripes as the national flag of the united colonies, June 14, 1777. This is another event occurring even prior to the creation of the United States by the Constitution.

Here’s the proclamation from President Obama:

For Immediate Release

June 07, 2013

Presidential Proclamation — Flag Day and National Flag Week, 2013

FLAG DAY AND NATIONAL FLAG WEEK, 2013

– – – – – – –

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

Each June, our Nation lifts its sights to the flag that has watched over us since the days of our founding. In those broad stripes and bright stars, we see the arc of the American story — from a handful of colonies to 50 States, united and free.

When proud patriots took up the fight for independence, they came together under a standard that showed their common cause. When the wounds of civil war were still fresh and our country walked the long road to reconstruction, our people found hope in a banner that testified to the strength of our Union. Wherever our American journey has taken us, whether on that unending path to the mountaintop or high above into the reaches of space, Old Glory has followed, reminding us of the rights and responsibilities we share as citizens.

This week, we celebrate that legacy, and we honor the brave men and women who have secured it through centuries of service at home and abroad. Let us raise our flags high, from small-town storefronts to duty stations stretched around the globe, and let us look to them once more as we press on in the march toward a more perfect Union.

To commemorate the adoption of our flag, the Congress, by joint resolution approved August 3, 1949, as amended (63 Stat. 492), designated June 14 of each year as “Flag Day” and requested that the President issue an annual proclamation calling for its observance and for the display of the flag of the United States on all Federal Government buildings. The Congress also requested, by joint resolution approved June 9, 1966, as amended (80 Stat. 194), that the President annually issue a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as “National Flag Week” and call upon citizens of the United States to display the flag during that week.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim June 14, 2013, as Flag Day and the week beginning June 9, 2013, as National Flag Week. I direct the appropriate officials to display the flag on all Federal Government buildings during that week, and I urge all Americans to observe Flag Day and National Flag Week by displaying the flag. I also call upon the people of the United States to observe with pride and all due ceremony those days from Flag Day through Independence Day, also set aside by the Congress (89 Stat. 211), as a time to honor America, to celebrate our heritage in public gatherings and activities, and to publicly recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

You may want to read further history of Flag Day and the Wisconsin-born dentist who created and promoted the campaign to commemorate it, Bernard J. CiGrand, at the National Flag Day Foundation site.


Flag Day cartoon by Joel Mielke in the North Coast Journal, Humboldt, California

Joel Mielke cartoon in the North Coast Journal, Humboldt, California. Each of these flag uses is, technically, a violation of the flag code. Fly your flag on Flag Day; it’s a non-violative, non-offensive way to honor the flag, and our nation.

More:

1 Comment | Boy Scouts of America, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, History, Patriotism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Fly your flag today – Happy New Year, 2013!

January 1, 2013

Flag in Times Square, New Years Eve - Pakistan Daily Times

Revelers wave the U.S. flag in Times Square to welcome in the new year. Photo from the Pakistan Daily Times.

New Years is one of the “fly your flag” dates set in law.  Please feel free.

Of course, I mean “feel free” in every possible way.

 

Leave a Comment » | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Still U.S. flags on the Moon?

July 7, 2011

One of the most dramatic categories of evidence that the U.S. landed men on the Moon is the detritus and other stuff they left behind.  Now we have satellites orbiting the Moon that can send back images of the landing sites with an amazing amount of detail.

Around the 4th of July somebody usually wonders how those flags left behind, are doing.

CBS News reporter Jim Axelrod asked around; you can see his report at YouTube (CBS disallows embedding of these reports, so you’ll need to click the image a couple of times to go to the YouTube site for CBS):

(720 views of this report when I posted this; come on, news hounds, flag fliers and Moon and history buffs, you can boost that total.)

Leave a Comment » | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, History, Moon, NASA, Space exploration, Space Race | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

That flag you flew yesterday — want to burn it today?

July 5, 2011

Some of the more astute students in our high school classes ask questions about everything.  For example, they ask:  “What does the Pledge of Allegiance mean, when it says, ‘ . . . and to the Republic for which it stands?'”

Is the Pledge all that important?  Is the flag all that important?

Maybe.  How would you answer that question, really?

Penn and Teller offer a demonstration:

What do you think?  Did they burn a flag?  Should that sort of performance be legal?

What if Penn and Teller burned a flag in the White House?

An exercise in ambiguity:  A fictional drama about a sleight of hand, illusionary performance.  (Best line:  The answer to the question, “Did you go to law school?”  For the record, yes, I did go to law school.  I’m an amateur clown.)

Did you fly your  flag yesterday?

4 Comments | 100 Milestone Documents of U.S. History, Bill of Rights, First Amendment, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Free speech, Freedom - Political, Law, Patriotism, Pledge to the flag, Reason, U.S. Constitution | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Michigan governor’s office continues practice honoring fallen soldiers

June 23, 2011

Michigan’s Gov. Rick Snyder chose to continue the practice of his predecessor, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, in ordering flags to be flown at half-staff throughout the state to honor a Michigan soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Good on him.

Description: Description: Description: cid:image001.png@01CC318F.8A7F61B0

Flags to be lowered Monday, June 27
for Private First Class Brian J. Backus

LANSING, Mich. – Gov. Rick Snyder ordered U.S. flags throughout the state to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Private First Class Brian J. Backus on Monday, June 27. Flags should be returned to full-staff on Tuesday, June 28.

Backus, 21, of Harbor Beach, died June 18 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.

“Pfc. Backus served our country with bravery and courage.  My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time of great sorrow,” Snyder said.

Backus was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division of Fort Drum, New York. His awards include the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon and the Combat Medical Badge. Backus deployed with his unit in March 2011 to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

The funeral service and arrangements are pending.

When flown at half-staff or half-mast, the U.S. flag should be hoisted first to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff or half-mast position. The flag should again be raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.

This message was sent on Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 12:28 p.m.

 

1 Comment | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, soldiers, veterans | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

A salute to Medal of Honor winner Rodolfo Hernandez

April 1, 2011

No television cameras.  No professional photographers.  An employee of American Airlines, Andres Otero, standing by, caught the event, probably with his phone camera.

Here’s the picture, published in the obscure Queens Gazette:

Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Rodolfo Hernandez March 25, 2011. Photo by Andres Otero, American Airlines

Congressional Medal of Honor Winner Rodolfo Hernandez received a salute from active duty military, as he boarded an American Airlines flight to Washington, D.C., for Medal of Honor Day, March 25. Photo by Andres Otero, American Airlines

[Click through to the Queens Gazette for a larger image.]

The rest of the story?

California-native Corporal Rodolfo P. Hernandez served in the U.S. Army, and saw action in the Korean conflict.  He and his unit came under attack near Wontong-ni, Korea, on May 31, 1951.  Here’s the citation, from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society:

Cpl. Hernandez, a member of Company G, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, in defensive positions on Hill 420, came under ruthless attack by a numerically superior and fanatical hostile force, accompanied by heavy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire which inflicted numerous casualties on the platoon. His comrades were forced to withdraw due to lack of ammunition but Cpl. Hernandez, although wounded in an exchange of grenades, continued to deliver deadly fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants until a ruptured cartridge rendered his rifle inoperative. Immediately leaving his position, Cpl. Hernandez rushed the enemy armed only with rifle and bayonet. Fearlessly engaging the foe, he killed 6 of the enemy before falling unconscious from grenade, bayonet, and bullet wounds but his heroic action momentarily halted the enemy advance and enabled his unit to counterattack and retake the lost ground. The indomitable fighting spirit, outstanding courage, and tenacious devotion to duty clearly demonstrated by Cpl. Hernandez reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the U.S. Army.

Congressional Medal of Honor awardee Cpl. Rodolfo P. Hernandez - CMOHS image

Congressional Medal of Honor awardee Cpl. Rodolfo P. Hernandez - Congressional Medal of Honor Society image

Cpl. Hernandez received the Congressional Medal of Honor on April 21, 1962.

No, I had not heard of Medal of Honor Day, either.

Here are some details from MedalofHonorNews.com, so you can get a head start on next year’s observation:

Sunday, March 13, 2011

National Medal of Honor Day: Let’s not forget our heroes on March 25th, 2011


National Medal of Honor Day is officially observed on March 25th. The Medal of Honor is the highest distinction that can be awarded by the President, in the name of the Congress, to members of the Armed Forces who have distinguished themselves conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of their lives above and beyond the call of duty.

“This holiday should be one of our most revered. Unfortunately all too many Americans are not even aware of its existence.” Home of Heroes

The date of March 25th was chosen because the first Medals of Honor were awarded to members of Andrew’s Raiders on March 25, 1863, for their actions during the “Great Locomotive Chase.”

Col. Robert Howard (USA Ret.) president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society on National Medal of Honor Day states:

“Hard times ask us to put a greater good before our own interests. It is sometimes physically or emotionally painful. Yet throughout history, you will find common men and women who fought selflessly in a variety of ways for something so much larger than just their own benefit.

Today, we’re fighting terrorism and the spread of tyranny. We’re challenged by market upheaval, joblessness and perhaps hunger. But the human spirit is resilient and can withstand more than sometimes we are able to immediately comprehend.

It’s up to each of us to not lay and wait for better days, but instead look for opportunities to make the lives of those around us better. National Medal of Honor Day is not a celebration. It is a solemn time to reflect on the freedom we enjoy, its price, and how our own bravery can improve the world around us.”

Home of Heroes, a premier resource of Medal of Honor information on the internet suggests:

“National Medal of Honor day is celebrated in some communities, however for the most part the occasion comes and goes with little notice. As a patriotic American there are a few things you can do to commemorate this day:

  • Fly your flag with pride and patriotism on this day.
  • Remember our heroes. As a gesture of your appreciation, why not take just a few moments in the week prior to National Medal of Honor Day to mail a “Thank You” card to one of our living Medal of Honor recipients. You can find a list of the living as well as information on writing to them among the pages of the Home of Heroes website or contact the Congressional Medal of Honor Society who will forward the letter to the Medal of Honor Recipient.
  • Inform your local media. Most newspapers aren’t even aware that this special day exists. Why not tip your local media to the occasion. Before you do, check out the Home of Heroes database for Medal of Honor recipients from your city and state as well as any who might be buried in your city. This information can give your media a “local angle” that can increase the probability that they will consider doing a story to remind Americans of our heroes.
  • If there is a Medal of Honor recipient buried in your home town, get a school class, scout troop, or other youth organization to “adopt a grave site”.

Please visit the Home of Heroes website and the Educational Resources section of Medal of Honor News.

Also read our upcoming article: Lesson plans for History and Social Studies teachers on National Medal of Honor Day, March 25th, 2011

1 Comment | Congressional Medal of Honor, Education, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, Heroes, History, korean war, Lesson plans, War | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

They’re all our kids

July 29, 2010

Which kid is yours?

Scouts at the Arena Show, Day 3, 2010 National Jamboree

Scouts at the Arena Show, Day 3, 2010 National Jamboree - "Scouts carry in American flags to start the opening arena show in Ft. A.P. Hill, Va., Tuesday July 27, 2010. Photo by Daniel Giles" (from Flickr stream)

All of them.

1 Comment | Boy Scouts of America, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Armed Forces Day 2010 – Fly your flag Saturday, May 15

May 10, 2010

Armed Forces Day 2010 poster

Armed Forces Day 2010 poster

At the moment the link is down, to download a sharp copy of the poster for printing in gigantic size, but that shouldn’t stop you from planning to fly your flag next Saturday, May 15, for Armed Forces Day.  We honor those men and women currently in uniform serving our nation on the third Saturday in May

Previously, in Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub:

5 Comments | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, History, Military History, veterans | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Brave 10-year-old Arkansas boy refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance, on principle

November 17, 2009

Adults worry about peer pressure.  Kids can goad other kids into doing stupid things, dangerous things, illegal things, and immoral things.

Pressure from adults on kids might be just as strong.

What about a 10-year-old kid who stands up to peer pressure, and stands for principle against adults who use all sorts of inducements to get him to do something he believes is wrong?

I offer a salute to Will Phillips of  West Fork School District, in Washington County, Arkansas.

Will believes homosexuals in America are not beneficiaries of  liberty and justice for all.  Will now refuses to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance for that reason.

It’s probably not what I’d advise the young man to do to protest, but he has every right.  He’s thought it through, which may not be said for the substitute teacher and the school administrator who tried to pressure him into giving up on his principles.

In the Arkansas Times, David Koon writes the story:

A boy and his flag

Why Will won’t pledge.

David Koon
Updated: 11/5/2009

WILL PHILLIPS: Freedom lover.

Will Phillips, freedom lover, in Arkansas (Arkansas Times photo)

Will Phillips isn’t like other boys his age.

For one thing, he’s smart. Scary smart. A student in the West Fork School District in Washington County, he skipped a grade this year, going directly from the third to the fifth. When his family goes for a drive, discussions are much more apt to be about Teddy Roosevelt and terraforming Mars than they are about Spongebob Squarepants and what’s playing on Radio Disney.

It was during one of those drives that the discussion turned to the pledge of allegiance and what it means. Laura Phillips is Will’s mother. “Yes, my son is 10,” she said. “But he’s probably more aware of the meaning of the pledge than a lot of adults. He’s not just doing it rote recitation. We raised him to be aware of what’s right, what’s wrong, and what’s fair.”

Will’s family has a number of gay friends. In recent years, Laura Phillips said, they’ve been trying to be a straight ally to the gay community, going to the pride parades and standing up for the rights of their gay and lesbian neighbors. They’ve been especially dismayed by the effort to take away the rights of homosexuals – the right to marry, and the right to adopt. Given that, Will immediately saw a problem with the pledge of allegiance.

“I’ve always tried to analyze things because I want to be lawyer,” Will said. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.”

After asking his parents whether it was against the law not to stand for the pledge, Will decided to do something. On Monday, Oct. 5, when the other kids in his class stood up to recite the pledge of allegiance, he remained sitting down. The class had a substitute teacher that week, a retired educator from the district, who knew Will’s mother and grandmother. Though the substitute tried to make him stand up, he respectfully refused. He did it again the next day, and the next day. Each day, the substitute got a little more cross with him. On Thursday, it finally came to a head. The teacher, Will said, told him that she knew his mother and grandmother, and they would want him to stand and say the pledge.

“She got a lot more angry and raised her voice and brought my mom and my grandma up,” Will said. “I was fuming and was too furious to really pay attention to what she was saying. After a few minutes, I said, ‘With all due respect, ma’am, you can go jump off a bridge.’ ”

Will was sent to the office, where he was given an assignment to look up information about the flag and what it represents. Meanwhile, the principal called his mother.

“She said we have to talk about Will, because he told a sub to jump off a bridge,” Laura Phillips said. “My first response was: Why? He’s not just going to say this because he doesn’t want to do his math work.”

Eventually, Phillips said, the principal told her that the altercation was over Will’s refusal to stand for the pledge of allegiance, and admitted that it was Will’s right not to stand. Given that, Laura Phillips asked the principal when they could expect an apology from the teacher. “She said, ‘Well I don’t think that’s necessary at this point,’ ” Phillips said.

After Phillips put a post on the instant-blogging site twitter.com about the incident, several of her friends got angry and alerted the news media. Meanwhile, Will Phillips still refuses to stand during the pledge of allegiance. Though many of his friends at school have told him they support his decision, those who don’t have been unkind, and louder.

“They [the kids who don’t support him] are much more crazy, and out of control and vocal about it than supporters are.”

Given that his protest is over the rights of gays and lesbians, the taunts have taken a predictable bent. “In the lunchroom and in the hallway, they’ve been making comments and doing pranks, and calling me gay,” he said. “It’s always the same people, walking up and calling me a gaywad.”

Even so, Will said that he can’t foresee anything in the near future that will make him stand for the pledge. To help him deal with the peer pressure, his parents have printed off posts in his support on blogs and websites. “We’ve told him that people here might not support you, but we’ve shown him there are people all over that support you,” Phillips said. “It’s really frustrating to him that people are being so immature.”

At the end of our interview, I ask young Will a question that might be a civics test nightmare for your average 10-year-old. Will’s answer, though, is good enough — simple enough, true enough — to give me a little rush of goose pimples.  What does being an American mean?

“Freedom of speech,” Will says, without even stopping to think. “The freedom to disagree. That’s what I think pretty much being an American represents.”

Somewhere, Thomas Jefferson smiles.

12 Comments | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, History, Justice, Patriotism, Pledge to the flag | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

All U.S. flags at half-staff until Veterans Day, Obama orders

November 7, 2009

President Obama issued a directive ordering all federal facilities to fly the national flag at half-staff from now until Veterans Day (November 11), to honor the soldiers and civilians felled at Fort Hood, Texas.

“It is an act of violence that would have been heartbreaking had it occurred anyplace in America,” Obama said. “It is a crime that would have horrified us had its victims been Americans of any background. But it’s all the more heartbreaking and all the more despicable because of the place where it occurred and the patriots who were its victims.”

The president said he met Friday with FBI Director Robert Mueller, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and others to discuss their continuing investigation into the attack, which also injured at least 30.

Obama also expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and recognized those who helped the wounded after the shooting at the base’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center. The center is where soldiers go to have their teeth checked and medical records updated before deploying overseas.

“These are the men and women we honor today. These are the men and women we’ll honor on Veterans Day,” Obama said. “And these are the men and women we shall honor every day, in times of war and times of peace, so long as our nation endures.”  (from the Virginian-Pilot, in Norfolk, Virginia)

Obama’s directive follows Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s order for flags in Texas to be flown half-staff until Monday.

Flag etiquette reminder: When flown at half-staff, the U.S. flag should be raised quickly to full staff, then lowered slowly to half-staff.

President Obama addressed the tragedy in his weekly radio and television message:

Vodpod videos no longer available.
(More about “Weekly Address: Tragedy at Fort Hood …“, posted with vodpod)
Obama’s statement and proclamation can be found at the White House website.

4 Comments | Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, President Obama, Texas, veterans, Violence | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Veterans Day 2009 – Here’s the poster

November 1, 2009

Veterans Day Poster, 2009, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Veterans Day Poster, 2009, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs - Click on poster for link to high-quality version

Get ready to fly your flag on Veterans Day, November 11.

Information

6 Comments | 1776, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Fly your flag today, veterans | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Don’t “dip” the American flag

August 14, 2009

So far I’ve been able to learn that Joe Bruni is a firefighter.  Beyond that, I don’t know much other than his YouTube series on flag etiquette is very good — not perfect, but very, very good.

In this episode he talks about carrying a flag.  I wish he’d discussed it in terms of a flag ceremony, but he gets the basics right.

Younger Scouts, Cub Scouts, Brownies and Bluebirds will have difficulty holding a large flag and pole vertical — get a flag harness to help them out (usually less than $25.00 at Scout supply shops).

He’s got a bunch of these.  I’ll pass them along as I get a chance to view them.

(Joe Bruni — who are you?)

4 Comments | Boy Scouts of America, Flag ceremony, Flag etiquette, Patriotism | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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