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Flag etiquette

MMike

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
what's the etiquette for flags at half-mast?

There's a ton of them on building around here that are still at half-mast. I'm assuming they were lowered for Reagan. but he's been buried now for a few days. Should everything be back up top?
 
DamienC

DamienC

Turbo Monkey
Jun 6, 2002
1,165
0
DC
I noticed the same thing...

From http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#4

The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.
 
Tenchiro

Tenchiro

Attention K Mart Shoppers
Jul 19, 2002
5,407
0
New England
Then there are the bandwagon patriots that still have half rotted flags from 9/11 still flapping from their cars...
 
BurlyShirley

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
A few years ago when Dale Earnhardt died, the flags at the schools in my town in TN were at half mast for a week.
 
Cooter Brown

Cooter Brown

Turbo Monkey
May 30, 2002
1,453
0
Snow Hall, tweakin on math
Tenchiro said:
Then there are the bandwagon patriots that still have half rotted flags from 9/11 still flapping from their cars...
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:mumble: yeah, or like around here a couple years ago when the University of Oklahoma won the football national championship, everybody and their f#cking inbred brother had those damn OU flags waving from their car windows

Damn "Flaggits" :angry: :angry: :stosh: :mumble:
 
Damn True

Damn True

Monkey Pimp
Sep 10, 2001
4,015
3
Between a rock and a hard place.
DamienC said:
I noticed the same thing...

From http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html#4

The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.
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Thanks for posting that Damien. I was trying to recall it and was foggy on the details.

You should find that the flags on Federal buildings are being flown correctly. Pretty sure the local Toyota Dealer, and the offices of the Post-Intelligencer have it all bollocks'd up.
 
Trunkmonkey

Trunkmonkey

Chimp
Mar 6, 2003
13
0
Pelham, NH USA
True Post-911 patriots shall ignore all federal flag etiquette suggestions. For example:
  • Hang two dozen flags from a bridge. Let them rot in the sun for three years collecting dirt, mold, and exhaust fumes. Bask in the knowledge that you're a true patriot!
  • Purchase $0.99 flag sticker and put on car. Let it fade and peel for three years. Bask in the knowledge that you're a true patriot!
  • Install 8 foot mast into pickup truck bed and fly 4 foot flag from it. Let it get torn to shreds over the course of three years on your 50 mile daily commute. Bask in the knowledge that you're a true patriot!
  • Jam 6 inch flag into the window of your car. Lose it on the highway somewhere in the first 5 miles of your daily commute along with the other thousand people with the same idea. Let it get run over by thousands of other patriots. Bask in the knowledge that you're a true patriot!

I could go on, but it pisses me off too much to think about it. Especially the last one. I had a box of hundreds of little flags I collected off the side of the road from people who didn't properly attach them to their cars. I eventually brought them all down to the local veteran's hall for proper retirement.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,831
20,692
Sleazattle
Nitromike said:
Proper retirement = burn em

People who disrespect the flag are one of my biggest pet peeves.
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That is what always cracked me up about people who wanted to ban flag burning. That is what you are supposed to do with them when they are old or touch the ground.
 
Kornphlake

Kornphlake

Turbo Monkey
Oct 8, 2002
2,632
1
Portland, OR
What's with the burn it after touching the ground? If it's dirty, torn, faded or otherwise shameful to hang as a symbol of our freedom it should be burned. I gave my 2 year old one of the little flags that trunk monkey picked up from the side of the road and she proceded to drop it on the ground. Does that mean I'm going to burn it immediately? No, I did cringe when it fell on the ground but I picked it up and put it in a more suitable place. A flag that has touched the ground isn't like a hamburger that fell on the ground. Unless the flag fell on a hamburger that was on the ground there's no reason to just randomly burn flags, I acutally find it offensive. One of the great moments was when our scout master showed up with a flag that came from the scout office in a fancy box that was intended to be burned in a ceremony. He said a few words and tossed it all folded up in the box into the fire, I was pretty unimpressed, throwing it into the ashes and letting it burn didn't seem very respectful to me, it should have been unfolded held over the fire and laid over the fire such that it wouldn't smother the fire. One of my buddies did an eagle project where we collected old flags from the community and burned them at the local memorial park, we cut each flag carefully separating the red stripes from the white stripes and the field of blue stars and burned each color in a seperate barrell. I think some people get the idea that if you're burning flags then it's okay to be a pyro so they look for any excuse the can find to burn one.

On a related note is it mandatory to cover your heart when the national anthem is playing or when a flag is passing by like in a parade. I was told that you only need to cover your heart when reciting the pledge but lots of people do it during the national anthem or when a flag passes by and it makes me feel like some anti-american if I don't do it too.
 
Nitromike

Nitromike

Monkey
May 14, 2004
233
0
Some ghetto in Houston
Kornphlake, to be done properly the flag at the end of the ceremony is supposed to be unfolded from the traditional tri-corner and refolded into a rectangle that resembles a coffin. The fire should be kept low so no burning pieces of the flag fly out. Also cutting the flag beforehand is desecration to quite a few people also.
 
Trunkmonkey

Trunkmonkey

Chimp
Mar 6, 2003
13
0
Pelham, NH USA
From http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

My flag touched the ground. Do I need to destroy it?
No. You should, of course, try to avoid having the flag touch the ground. But if it does, you should correct the situation immediately. If the flag has been dirtied, you should clean it by hand with a mild soap solution and dry it well before returning it to use.
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Each flag etiquette site has different opinions.
 
Kornphlake

Kornphlake

Turbo Monkey
Oct 8, 2002
2,632
1
Portland, OR
Nitromike said:
Kornphlake, to be done properly the flag at the end of the ceremony is supposed to be unfolded from the traditional tri-corner and refolded into a rectangle that resembles a coffin. The fire should be kept low so no burning pieces of the flag fly out. Also cutting the flag beforehand is desecration to quite a few people also.
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Cutting and burning the pieces seperately came from a book somewhere, we didn't make that up. I too felt funny about cutting a flag, but the fact that it was cut and then burnt in a respectful manner and for the purpose of retiring a flag got it past the eagle review board so I went along with it. I'm still a fan of the method you describe, after seperating the colors of hundreds of flags I don't think I'd ever want to have to do that again. I don't really feel there's anything wrong with burning a flag, plenty of people have never actually seen a proper flag ceremony, for them to burn a flag by any method is better than throwing it in the garbage, as long as it is done with reverence. Burning a flag that is in no way damaged even if done in reverance is unnecessary and to a point desecration in my mind, that was my real point.
 
reflux

reflux

Turbo Monkey
Mar 18, 2002
4,617
2
G14 Classified
Kornphlake said:
What's with the burn it after touching the ground? If it's dirty, torn, faded or otherwise shameful to hang as a symbol of our freedom it should be burned.
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Hehe, it's kinda like the spirit stick, just without Eliza Dushku (sp?) holding it. Umm, Eliza :drool: :drool: :drool:
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
interesting stuff, seems to be alot of ritual involved in the whole flag thing. Everything has to be done just correctly to burn it, not letting the flag touch the ground, getting pissed at somebody who burns it in protest. Just seems like a lot of misplaced nationalistic sentimentality to me, for anyone who threw a hissy fit over not following proper procedure.
If we had a KKK member waving a flag around, that flag doesn't represent my ideals, go ahead and burn it.
 
Skookum

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
ummbikes said:
Skookum- Nixon didn't have a state funeral, per his request, he was ashamed he resigned and all that.
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aaaaaahhhhh i see, i thought i was under a rock during that time. interesting stuff, man R.M. is turning into the Learning Channel. :p
 
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