Boy Scout Troop 32 from Epworth and members of the North Georgia Honor Guard held a United States Flag Retirement ceremony at Ron Henry Horseshoe Bend Park Tuesday evening, October 19.
The U.S. Flag Code states, “The flag when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.”
In order to demonstrate the proper way to retire a U.S. flag, the Boy Scout Troop 32 and veterans from the North Georgia Honor Guard inspected each flag to determine its condition during the ceremony.
“Any flag found not to be repairable will be retired. ...The flag will be cut into pieces as preparation for retirement. The blue field will be separated from the stripes and retired as a single piece as it represents the union that should never be separated.
“We have prepared a retirement fire for our ceremony tonight. We do not burn the flag out of anger or disrespect.
But this ceremony will be conducted with the dignity and respect that is deserving of our nation’s symbol,” said North Georgia Honor Guard Commander and Chaplain Bill Stodghill.
The Boy Scouts then prepared and cut each stripe from a large U.S. flag separating the stripes from the blue field. The stripes were then placed in the fire, one by one, and then the blue field was placed in the fire while TAPS was played to complete the retirement of said flag.
The Grommets from the retired flag were then handed out to attendees of the ceremony with a card that read, “It serves as a reminder of our nation’s symbol and the Liberty and freedoms we enjoy and the great sacrifices made to preserve them.”