My American flag on my house is torn and tattered and needs to be replaced. How do I dispose of the old one properly?

Call the local Boy Scouts troop. They will be able to locate a retirement ceremony troop, if they don't perform them.

There is no set way or ceremony to re-tire a flag as long as it is done with honor. Flags are usually re-tired by fire. My Scout Troop will get a large enough wood fire to going to rapidly consume the flag. The flag can be seperated into its various parts are put in whole. Once the flag is placed in the fire, no other fuel is put in and the fire is allowed to die out on it's own which usually means someone stands watch on it overnight. After the fire has cooled, we collect the grommets from the flag to hand out as good luck pieces to Troop members, friends, or the flags owners if they request them.

[This message has been edited by DevilD77 (edited 5/28/2013 12:24p).]

That sounds pretty cool

Similar to what DevilD said, when I was a scout we used to have a flag retirement ceremony at every Spring district camporee. All the troops in the district would bring their flags and we'd cut them into the separate stripes and the field of stars. There was a script that went along with it if I recall correctly, but I don't remember what it was. One year, however, it was freezing and it had been raining on and off all day and it was expected to rain on the closing campfire as well, so the guy in charge said we'd just get the fire as big as possible and lay each flag on it whole. Most of the flags that year were nylon, so it didn't take much for them to go up. And the guy was a retired vet, so no one really questioned burning the flags whole.

I heard you should cut out the field of blue so that it is no longer a flag, before burning.

There is no specific way to prepare the flag. Many organizations have "THEIR WAY" of doing it but there is no official way.

Take it to a Legion or VFW Hall. and buy the old soldiers a beer while you are there.

from the Betsy Ross society:

quote:

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Section 8k of the Flag Code states, "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." We recommend that you contact your local VFW Chapter and ask them for help properly disposing of your flag. And be sure to consider providing a small donation to them for their assistance. Or you can contact your local Elks Lodge (who created the idea of Flag Day, established officially by President Truman, himself a member of the Elks), the American Legion, or the Knights of Columbus. Some Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops also can provide this service.

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Key here is dignified way. There are no set rules, remember it is the emblem of those that have stood tall in harms way to protect our freedoms, and should be treated as such.

Boy scout troop for sure. Also, you can cut out the stars individually and keep them as a souvenir. A VFW in Texas retired one of it's flags and did exactly that and then had some of their wives stitch our individual names onto them and sent them over to us in Iraq. Was actually really heartfelt to me. I carried that star under my SAPI for the rest of my time in service. It was good to have something on me that had flown in the Texas sky for a long time.