ST CHARLES, Mo. — This Flag Day, veterans in St. Charles want to help people properly dispose of worn or damaged American flags.
A veteran-run flag collection will take place Friday outside the St. Charles County Government Administration Building, at the corner of North Second Street and Monroe Street in downtown St. Charles, a St. Charles County spokesperson said in a written statement.
The annual flag collection will be hosted by the St. Charles County Veterans Best Practices Working Group. The flags are given to the American Legion, which disposes of the flags appropriately. Sgt. Donald Van serves as chair of the working group, which has collected more than 14,000 American flags for dignified disposal since 2014.
“As a proud American and a veteran of the United States Army, I fly my American flag daily in front of my house," Van said. "As time goes on, the flag gets worn from the weather and needs to be replaced.”
Some Americans may not know how important it is to retire worn flags, the veteran said. Those people should bring their flags to the collection site.
"I ask you to bring your flag to us at our collection site so we can give your flag the respect it deserves,” Van said.
Folks dropping off flags won't have to leave their cars thanks to volunteer veterans who will collect flags directly in a drive-thru drop-off.
Those who can't make it to downtown St. Charles on Friday can always place them in the designated flag collection box at Veterans Tribute Park in Weldon Spring.
According to the U.S. Flag Code, American flags should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning, when they are in a condition that is no longer fitting.
People can dispose of flags themselves, according to the American Legion., but it and many other organizations plan ceremonies for disposals on Flag Day.
The ceremony is formal, includes a prayer or invocation and acknowledges the service of fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines.
"A Flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze, or a beautiful banner of finest silk. Its intrinsic value may be trifling or great; but its real value is beyond price, for it is a precious symbol of all that we and our comrades have worked for and lived for, and died for a free Nation of free men, true to the faith of the past, devoted to the ideals and practice of Justice, Freedom and Democracy," an excerpt of the ceremony says.
See the full ceremony instructions on the American Legion's webpage here.
For the American Legion's Flag Day Speech, click here.