Flag etiquette... not something I am normally overly concerned with... but this week is Veteran's Day...and I have a question... "Is it disrespectful to iron a flag?"
This is not a flag from a deceased family member, or even someone I know. It is a flag that I purchased - with the honest thought- to treat it with more respect than the guy I bought it from.
I never thought when I set out for a SWAPMEET in southern California that my one purchase of the day would be a flag...I wasn't looking for a flag- I had NO place to fly or even to hang a flag. I was a student - living in a somewhat furnished pool house with no air. But for some reason I was drawn to the fact that ANYONE would toss a flag into a pile and try and sell it for a few bucks.
Sadly, I had NEVER seen a "real" flag. A real life COTTON flag. The kind that fades, and becomes thin and worn in the wind. I had only ever seen the polyester kind that was supposed to be hurricane proof and sounded like wind pants whenever it touched itself.
I was appalled by the grungy guy that thought it was okay to SELL this flag with all of his other junk. I had no idea what he wanted for it -I really didn't care and I probably would have cleaned out my measly bank account to take it with me...Luckily the price was right! (meaning cheap enough for a college student with only a part time job) I took my "piece of history" home with me, folded it carefully into a bad triangle, and it has traveled with me to every place I have lived since. Eventually, my grandmother handed down my grandfather's passport, with his many stamps from his military service and a few crayon marks from another unmentioned grandchild, to the horror of my three uncles. Soon after, my parents gave me a small "shadow box table" and in it I keep my badly folded but prized flag, that passport and a few black and white shots of my grandfather with his hair combed exactly as I remember it. So- As Veteran's Day approaches this year, and I help to plan the second annual Blind Veterans Appreciation Luncheon. -I would like to display this flag, give it a place of honor, I ask "Is it disrespectful to iron it first?"
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hummmmm, I would say no because you are doing something to care for it... if it were torn, you would sew it back together so seems ironing would be ok? Although, Im no pro at ironing or flags so you might want to ask a military person?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html This website says that the flag should be washed and mended when necessary so I would think that ironing would be appropriate.
ReplyDeleteHow neat to have your Grandpa's passport! I love having those kind of keepsakes to remember family members.
ReplyDeleteSide note: my husband was totally ticked off when we were traveling this past summer in Europe and his passport wasn't stamped once.