A New "Old Glory" for Flag Day

June 9, 2003

By Michele Landa Riggio, staff writer

On June 14, as we raise our American flags for Flag Day, many of us may wonder what to do with torn, tattered and soiled flags that need to be replaced. Just ask Jenna, an 18-year-old Girl Scout from Florida who has collected and retired nearly 3,000 used American flags.

For the past three years, Jenna decided to collect and retire American flags in her community, to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. Once the flags were collected, Jenna hosted two large-scale flag retirement ceremonies at local parks, where more than 300 community members and fellow Girl Scouts attended. To solicit flags, Jenna set-up flag drop-off points throughout her neighborhood, and worked with a local radio station to spread the message about the retirement ceremonies. She also created a special email address for people to send their questions and concerns.

During the flag retirement ceremonies, Jenna followed the U.S. Flag Code retirement guidelines which are to (1) cut the flags into pieces, if necessary, to accommodate large crowds; (2) hand each audience member a piece of the flag, or alternately hand full flags to people if there are enough to go around; and (3) instruct each person to place their flag memento into a controlled flame (this was overseen by local firemen). Throughout the solemn ceremonies, Jenna showed how to care for flags, and spoke about the symbolism of the flag's colors, Stars and Stripes, and about the time-honored retirement tradition.

Jenna had patriotic and personal reasons for taking on this project. "In the wake of September 11, many people put out their American flags, and months later, many of those flags became torn and tattered and were in need of retirement. Also, at the time that I took on this project, my cousin was called overseas as an American soldier, and this was my way of coping and showing my support."

Thousands of flags later, Jenna's Girl Scout Gold Award project has blossomed. She's made a commitment to her community to continue to collect and retire tattered flags, teach people about the retirement process, and educate people about handling the American flag with dignity and respect. "As long as people continue to buy new flags, there's always going to be old ones that need to be retired," said Jenna.

For more information on what Girl Scouts in your community are doing to celebrate Flag Day, please contact your local Girl Scout council.