What is the proper way to retire an American flag when it needs to be replaced?

Dear Mr __Here is exactly what the US Flag Code says about retiring flags:

(k) The flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.

Notice that the code does not say the flag must be burned. It says burning is preferred. It also does not say that only Boy Scout Troops or The American Legion may do the burning. This belief sometimes gets brought up, but, unless some state or municipality has some local law to this effect, it is an urban myth. According to the US Flag Code, private individuals are permitted to retire the flag in this manner. However, those fine organizations and others do it in an organized way, often with a ceremony that can be quite moving to attend. I have also seen where The Girl Scouts have a ceremony that includes first cutting the retired flags into strips before they are burned. But the US Flag Code does not require that step. The Flag Code is also silent on what method other than burning would be considered dignified. As with many things in our beloved country, that decision is left to the dictates of our own respective consciences. But I have always stuck with burning. We used to just do it ourselves at my shop or at my home. But then I came to find out that towns have laws against the opening burning of anything and had to stop. Therefore, I save up flags that people drop off at my shop. When I see that a veterans organization or scout troop is having a retirement ceremony, I bring them there. Sometimes quite some time goes by and I have boxes of them. But I always find an outlet. Some VFW posts in our area have a wonderful idea. They have taken old mailboxes and repainted them in a red/white/blue theme. These are the giant mailboxes found on city streets. They put a sign on them saying "old flag drop off" or words to that effect. This is a wonderful service.

After all the years in this business some things still move me a great deal. One of them is the care that many folks take when it comes time to say goodbye to a worn out flag. Here is my favorite story in that regard. I got a call from what was clearly the classic "little old lady". She wanted to know how to go about disposing of her worn out flag. I told her about burning it and told her if it is not possible for her to do so she could bring it to our shop. She asked me many questions about how we would handle the flag, how we would treat the flag, where we would bring it. Would it be done the right way? She was very concerned and very involved. She needed to satisfy herself that her Old Glory would be handled with the care it deserved for its final service. All her questions answered, she thanked me and we said good-bye.

You could appreciate the next part of the story better if you knew the layout of our shop. Our building was not built as a commercial building and the shop entrance is all the way around the back. I admit it is a long walk for some people and it can be quite an effort to get around there. In fact, anymore when I see a person making their way in who is challenged by the walk, I just head them off in the parking lot to save them the effort. Nowadays with cell phones, disabled people sometimes just call us from the parking lot or call ahead so we can watch for them. Anyway, later that day I was sitting at my desk in my office from where I can see our parking lot. A car pulls up and out gets a little old lady. I did not yet know it was the same lady who called. I watch her slowly begin the march around to the entrance and I proceeded into the shop area to meet her. After a moment she comes in and approaches the counter saying she had called about having a flag to retire. But I see no flag. Out of here purse comes the tiniest of 4x6" American flags on a little stick! That is smaller even than the typical flag you get at a parade. It is a desk size flag. She had made that call, asked all those questions, driven to my shop and made that march just to be sure that her tiny little flag would get the respectful retirement it deserved. When I see our American Flag neglected, worn and faded beyond recognition yet still being displayed, I just think of that little old lady, of her long march, and I just smile.

I also note with interest that you write from Fredericksburg in our great sister state of Virginia. There was a day not all that long ago where many thousands of guys also went to a great deal of effort on behalf of their flags. Thanks for wanting to do the right thing

Question: We were discussing proper flag disposal and that brought up the question of what actually constitutes an American flag. Is a flag decal considered an actual flag or just the representation of a flag? Does the decal deserve the same disposal etiquette as an actual flag? How about a lapel pin? Or those very small flags that some people fly on their cars? Thanks, T.H. Elkhart, Indiana

Answer: The Flag Code is silent on these matters. Much of what the code does is to leave many things up to our own discretion, common sense and interpretation. We all get to decide for ourselves how long a list of items constitutes a flag for purposes of retirement and disposal. I think a good cut off is on the material. To me personally I make a distinction between fabric and metal. I consider the small car flags or small flags on sticks still to be flags worthy of not being simply thrown away. I consider flags on postage stamps or printed in the newspaper not to be flags for retirement ceremony purposes and able to be just thrown away. You can bet that every day in Congress, The White House and The Pentagon they also simply throw in the garbage images of flags printed on paper. I would consider flag decals to be in the category of postage stamps and paper products. Same thing with metal. I would not consider a flag pin or any other rigid material to constitute a flag for this purpose. If the standard were to give ANY representation of a flag the same retirement standard we give to the flags we fly on poles, would the activity still have meaning? Can you imagine millions of us every day busy sorting out every paper image of a flag that we come across? If we were to really sort out every postage stamp, worn out decal, newspaper image, photograph and on and on, would the activity still have meaning? Not in my mind. But again, until some definitive list appears in The Flag Code that gives us guidance for many thousands of items that may portray a flag, we are all left to decide the matter for ourselves. But that is why we live in The United States of America. One important point: Your state may have laws regarding this matter. If you want to include more rather than fewer items, there certainly is no fault in it. As with most answers to flag etiquette questions, there is no one answer. I hope this response helps. Does it?