Honor Old Glory: Replace Aging American Flags

With Flag Day soon approaching, Clarkstown Town Clerk David Carlucci says   residents with worn, tattered American flags that should no longer be flown can have those flags respectfully retired in a special Flag Retirement Ceremony. 

Carlucci has been holding an ongoing flag collection at the Clarkstown Town Clerk's Office, 10 Maple Avenue, New City.  This program has allowed hundreds of flags to be retired in the proper manner.

American flags are retired at ceremonies that are often led by scouting or veterans groups. The old flags are burned, but the retirement ceremony includes more than just putting a flag in a fire.

The traditional method of retirement is to incinerate the flag, but this does not mean that one should simply drop the entire flag (intact) into a fire.

For the ceremonies, flag are cut into pieces. Once it is in pieces, the flag is no longer considered to be a flag. When the flags are cut, the are taken apart in such a way that the blue star field remains intact - with this part of the flag representing the union of the 50 states.

To have an old flag retired, bring it to Carlucci's office, check out his web site at www.clarkstownclerk.com or call Carlucci at 845-639-2010 for more information.