American flag

Another holiday is behind us. Decorations put away. This holiday, the decor is red, white and blue. Driving around the island this last Fourth of July weekend, it made me smile when I saw so many flags planted around our traffic circles in neighborhoods and around town.

We proudly display an American flag at our house. When our weathered flag begged for replacement, we wanted to be sure we properly disposed of it. A quick Google let us know that we should take our flag to the island American Legion VFW (626 S. Third St.), and deposit it in a specially designated mailbox. The flags are saved until the annual flag retirement ceremony held each year on June 14 — Flag Day.

Guess you would say we are patriotic. We have always flown a flag and add small flags to our front yard on special days like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Each time we see the flag honored, we are moved. Whether it is the Parade of Nations at the Olympics, the field-sized flags that are rolled out at the opening of football games or the flags draped over the bodies of presidents, soldiers, and heroes. It is hard not to feel enormous patriotic stirrings.

Big Guy and I recall being taught to respect the flag as young scouts. The flag was never to touch the ground, and we learned the exact way to fold it. Above all, the flag should be appropriately disposed of when it needs to be replaced or is damaged.

The history of our flag is fascinating. We all know the story of Betsy Ross, but did you know that at one point in our history a stripe was added for each additional state? As the country grew and stripes were added the flag became unwieldy. In 1818, Congress enacted “that the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States would be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white, that the union be twenty stars in a blue field, and that with the admission of every new state to the union one star be added to the union of the flag.”

On Flag Day one year the Big Guy and I joined others dressed in red, white and blue for a solemn ceremony at firehouse 20 on the First Coast Highway. The Amelia Island Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution coordinated the event with the help of local fire and rescue personnel. The morning was filled with patriotism — we repeated the Pledge of Allegiance, listened to the poem “I am the Flag,” heard the history of our flag, and sang the Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America.

The official code requires that the union section of the flag, which is the blue field with stars, is first cut away from the rest of the flag. Then each stripe is cut individually and dropped in a fire, followed by the “union.” Finally, a flag is reduced to ashes until it no longer resembles a flag. Then it is placed in a box and buried.

Our country’s flag is more than fabric and stitching — it is a red, white, and blue icon representing the United States. Proud to be an American.