“When a flag is so tattered that it no longer fits to serve as a symbol of the United States, it should be destroyed in a dignified manner, preferably by burning.” – United States Flag Code

      Last Saturday, in a ceremony conducted with reverence in the parking lot of American Legion Post 184 in Palm, and in front of memorials honoring fallen soldiers and the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the veterans of the Upper Perkiomen Valley Joint Veterans Council treated nearly 3,000 of the tattered and worn symbols of the nation that they pledged to protect with the same dignity and respect as the day they took the oath to defend it.

        Title 4, Chapter 1, subsection 8 of the United States Code outlines the proper etiquette for displaying and caring for our nation’s flag.  Among the 11 rules for showing proper respect for “Old Glory” is the proper way to retire the flag of the United States.  This is a federal law.

        It isn’t just a flag, but a symbol of the United States as a government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a republic, a sovereign nation of 50 sovereign states established upon the principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes....