Legion Dedicates Receptacle For Retired Flags
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
To each person, the American flag can mean something different.
But there is only one way to respecfully retire the flag.
Saturday, American Legion Post 49 dedicated a receptacle for all Kosciusko County residents to place their retired flags in for proper retirement.
Denny Nice, of Post 49, said along with the Legion, the U.S. Post Office, C&M Body Shop and the Warsaw Street Department helped make the receptacle a possibility.
Ken Locke provided a historical background on the flag and explained the colors.
"The reality is that on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress did not give us much direction on the meaning of the colors," he said.
To establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act that said, "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be made of 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."
No other direction was given as well as no outline to what the colors of the flag meant.
According to Locke, however, a glimpse of the meaning of the colors can be found in the Seal of the United States.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing a committee to devise a seal for the United States of America. This mission, designed to reflect the Founding Fathers' beliefs and values and the sovereignty of the new nation, did not become a reality until June 20, 1782.
In devices such as seals, each element has a specific meaning, according to Locke. Even colors have specific meanings. The colors red, white and blue did not have meanings for The Stars and Stripes when it was adopted in 1777. However, the colors in the Great Seal did have specific meanings.
Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reporting to Congress on the Seal, said, "The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America: White signifies purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.
"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."
Officially, Locke said, the colors of the flag have never been defined.
Locke also reported the number of American casualties and injuries from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm.
In combat, 620,219 American have died; 576,393 have died in time of war from wounds or accidents; 1,560,584 Americans have been wounded.
The total number of Americans who have shed blood in all those wars is 2,757,196, according to Locke.
Now, the Iraq War has added the following figures as of Friday, Locke said: 309 American have died in combat or other reasons and 1,322 have been wounded.
Locke said, "This receptacle stands as a testimony of that sacrifice of Americans for 227 years. It provides a place of honor for the Stars and Stripes to be retired in a respectful manner." [[In-content Ad]]
To each person, the American flag can mean something different.
But there is only one way to respecfully retire the flag.
Saturday, American Legion Post 49 dedicated a receptacle for all Kosciusko County residents to place their retired flags in for proper retirement.
Denny Nice, of Post 49, said along with the Legion, the U.S. Post Office, C&M Body Shop and the Warsaw Street Department helped make the receptacle a possibility.
Ken Locke provided a historical background on the flag and explained the colors.
"The reality is that on June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress did not give us much direction on the meaning of the colors," he said.
To establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act that said, "Resolved, that the flag of the United States be made of 13 stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation."
No other direction was given as well as no outline to what the colors of the flag meant.
According to Locke, however, a glimpse of the meaning of the colors can be found in the Seal of the United States.
On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing a committee to devise a seal for the United States of America. This mission, designed to reflect the Founding Fathers' beliefs and values and the sovereignty of the new nation, did not become a reality until June 20, 1782.
In devices such as seals, each element has a specific meaning, according to Locke. Even colors have specific meanings. The colors red, white and blue did not have meanings for The Stars and Stripes when it was adopted in 1777. However, the colors in the Great Seal did have specific meanings.
Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress, reporting to Congress on the Seal, said, "The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America: White signifies purity and innocence; red, hardiness and valor; blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.
"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."
Officially, Locke said, the colors of the flag have never been defined.
Locke also reported the number of American casualties and injuries from the Revolutionary War to Desert Storm.
In combat, 620,219 American have died; 576,393 have died in time of war from wounds or accidents; 1,560,584 Americans have been wounded.
The total number of Americans who have shed blood in all those wars is 2,757,196, according to Locke.
Now, the Iraq War has added the following figures as of Friday, Locke said: 309 American have died in combat or other reasons and 1,322 have been wounded.
Locke said, "This receptacle stands as a testimony of that sacrifice of Americans for 227 years. It provides a place of honor for the Stars and Stripes to be retired in a respectful manner." [[In-content Ad]]