No, I don't mean that exactly as it sounds. I didn't go to a protest. It wasn't done out of anger. I didn't even plan on it. I had no idea it was going to happen. But it was part of the celebration of Independence Day that I attended. More accurately, we retired a flag today.
I celebrated today with several of my friends and several of their friends and family. One of my friends has a brother who was in town visiting this weekend. The brother is a graduate student studying US history; in particular, he is an expert on the US flag. Their parents were also visiting this weekend, and knowing about the brother's expertise, their father brought along an old, tattered flag with the expectation that he would know how to dispose of it properly. The brother suggested a flag retirement ceremony.
What is a flag retirement ceremony?
According to the
US Code, the proper etiquette for disposing of a worn out flag is to burn it in a dignified manner:
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.
And that's essentially what a flag retirement ceremony is.
Now, there are places you can go to deposit worn out flags for proper disposal, including most American Legion Halls and many Boy and Girl Scout Troops. But this particular flag held sentimental value for my friend's father, and he wanted not only to be present at the retirement of his flag, but he wanted to share the experience with his children.
Around 7 p.m., we started the bonfire, which had already been planned. Once the fire was going, my friend's brother called for everyone's attention and explained what was going to happen. He explained that his father and uncle had served our country honorably in Vietnam. His father survived; his uncle did not. The flag was the one that accompanied his uncle's coffin to burial and was presented to his family graveside over 30 years ago. I do not know how the flag came to be tattered, though I suppose anything can happen in 30 years; in any case, my friend's father knew the time had come to dispose of the flag, and he wanted to do it properly.
My friend's brother then said a few words about the meaning of the flag. He talked about how the flag is an emblem representing the liberty, freedom, and justice expressed in our sacred foundational documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He talked about the flag as a symbol of the unity of our nation, as something that represents the sacrifices made by so many Americans in the past 230 years for the sake of our nation. He mentioned that the flag flies everywhere there are Americans, whether on the battlefields of foreign countries, the flagpoles of our civic buildings, or in our front yards. Throughout the past 229 years (the flag wasn't adopted until 1777), our flag has been respected as the symbol of our country and all the values we hold dear. To retire a flag, we burn it -- not in protest and not in anger, but in a show of respect for all that it represents.
With the assistance of a few people to hold the flag and keep it from touching the ground, my friend's brother used a pair of scissors -- like the Boy Scout I used to be, I always have a pair in the trunk of my car -- to remove the star field from the flag, then cut the remainder of the flag into thirteen strips, one for each of the stripes. One by one, those of us holding the stripes dropped them into the bonfire, each taking a moment as we did so to ponder the meaning of the day and the sanctity of the flag; in tears, my friend's father followed, dropping the star field into the flames.
My girlfriend and I left before the bonfire was put out, but I'm told the ashes will be collected and buried out of respect for the flag.
As we retired this flag, I couldn't help but think about the flag burning amendment so recently rejected by a single vote in the Senate. The ceremony was very touching and very respectful, and yet given the vague language of the proposed amendment...
The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States.
...I couldn't help but wonder if retirement ceremonies such as this would be banned had the amendment passed. If they were, how would we then retire worn out flags? Would Congress make an exception for flag retirement ceremonies? I am opposed to the amendment under any circumstances for a variety of reasons, but for anyone who favors it, shouldn't Congress consider the intent of the person burning the flag? And of course, wouldn't desecration include certain acts committed three years ago by a certain prominent corrupt, incompetent, moronic asshole Rethug politician?


(Note: not the same flag in the two pictures posted above.)
I began to think how important the upcoming elections are. I began to think that with just a single additional vote, the Rethugs' grandstanding, ill-advised, vague, poorly conceived mockery of a constitutional amendment could have become the law of the land. I began to think of the rash of successful attempts by Rethugs in recent years to enshrine hatred and bigotry into state constitutions all across the country by banning same sex marriages and domestic partnerships -- and the effort currently underway in my home state, Wisconsin, to prevent such hatred from entering into our constitution. I fear for the future of our country if such transparently political power grabs can be used to alter the fundamental basis of our system of laws -- and when a substantial number of Democrats vote with the Rethugs and nearly let them get away with it.
I hope I will never witness another flag set aflame. I pray that if I ever need to see another flag retired, it can be done as respectfully as what I witnessed today.