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Health & Fitness

Where Is Your Flag?

Why did you put your flag back in storage today?

Here's something for everyone to chew on.  The Memorial Day weekend is over.  The bbq's and picnics are done, the kids are back in school and everyone is back to work or your normal schedule.  My questions are, how many of you put your flag back in storage?  And, why?  There is no law saying you can only display your American Flag on official holidays.  If you're proud enough to display it on a holiday, why not display it every day? 

The norm seems to be that flags sprout up on Memorial Day, Flag Day, the 4th of July and Veterans Day, then go back to whatever cubbyhole they're stored in.

Who remembers the days following 9/11 and the plethora of flags on every block in the neighborhood and every main street in town?  Does it really have to take a tragedy of epic proportions to unite us in our pride in our country?

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My point is that if you have a flag, why not use it, every day.  If you care enough to display it on the official holidays, think about my questions.

I will close on one final note for those who do display a flag.  First, thank you for flying our flag every day.  But.......you knew this was coming....as I am a stickler for flag protocol, I tend to notice flags when I'm out.  What I find all to often is someone with a flag for their favorite team below their American Flag.  I'm sure that most don't know that this goes against flag protocol.  Other than an officially recognized flag, such as a flag for a military service branch or a POW flag, team flags, school flags, business flags, etc, should never be flown below an American flag. They should be displayed on a separate pole of their own.  You obviously love your country enough to fly your flag every day, so show Old Glory the proper respect.  If you really love your favorite team so much, you can still fly their flag on another pole.  I know "real" flag poles are not cheap.  We use ours for our American flag and the typical house/deck/porch mounted bracket to display our team flags.  If you don't already have a bracket and pole, they're cheap enough at about any local retailer in town.

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