Can I display the spent cartridges from a military funeral salute in the same case as the flag?

I am sorry for your loss. Yes it is. People display patches, medals and all kinds of things with the flag. The Flag Code does not prohibit personal effects from being displayed with a flag. We have a display case in our shop that has extra compartments for mementos. If you are local to us come in and see it. Otherwise, give me a couple days and I will add it to the selection of cases on the web site so you can see it.

Question: The second questions concerns two memorial flags that my father had stored away. One was from his sister who never married, my father had been presented with her flag. The other was from an unmarried friend of the same aunt's. She had been presented that flag years ago. What is the proper disposition of these flags? They, of course, are beautiful and we would be proud to fly one of them, but I feel that may not be proper etiquette. Should they be retired?

Answer: It is quite proper to display these flags. In fact, it is a moving tribute. Such flags from funerals are usually 5 x 9.5' so they are too large to display from a pole in a bracket. They are by rights also too large for most home in-ground poles. Since they would be oversize for those types of poles, display them only on a calm day during good weather because they will stress the pole much more that a properly sized flag. Do it with care to protect your pole, and only during that time of calm weather. You could damage your pole with such an oversize flag. OR you could just display them vertically on an exterior wall or hanging down from a porch. Stars would to in the upper left corner as you view the flag. Flags from funerals are almost always cotton which is the least durable fabric for outdoor display. To extend their life some people display them just once in a while on selected holidays or special days. You might display them say on Memorial Day or on the person's birthday.

OR, you could put them folded in the flag display cases for display in a room.

OR, you could donate them to a fire company, school or house of worship that might have a pole big enough to actually handle them for normal continual use. Your departed loved ones might like the notion that their flags are serving in that manner. Look how this Boy Scout leader gives honorable new life to funeral flags that are languishing in closets:

<<As a retired Funeral Director & current Scoutmaster, I also thought you could include a great tip for those flags. I have 12 of them in our troop. People have given them to us following funerals (usually of aunts, uncles, etc) when they really had no use or desire to keep them. We honor those flags by caring for them and using them to teach our new scouts about flag folding, presenting, caring, etc. We also publicly collect flags to retire at each of our monthly campouts AND publicly on Memorial Day. So, the suggestion for funeral flags: Contact your local Boy Scout Troop and let them have them for training purposes!>>

The flags will of course then eventually wear out just like you and I will. At that time they would then be properly retired, preferably by being burned up in a respectful manner as suggested by The US Flag Code.

Also don't be concerned if the flags happen to have 48 stars. Historic versions of Old Glory are proper to display and retain all the honor and respect due to our current day flag.

In short, special memorial flags need not be hidden away. During aftermath of the 911 crisis, when there was a nation wide flag shortage every flag seller had lines more than an hour long. In one of the most moving things I have experienced in my decades as a flag dealer, a lady showed up at our shop and gave away to strangers the funeral flags from her WWII Veteran husband and her Vietnam Veteran son. Those flags were able to stand watch when here loved ones no longer could. I hope this helps Thank you for being concerned about how your flags are used.