Flag Burning Comes to Cranberry

OK, so the flag you’ve been flying for years to mark national holidays is starting to show its age. It’s fraying around the edges, its colors are fading, its seams are separating. It’s time for a replacement. 

But what do you do with the old one? Flags, after all, are symbols and what they symbolize is enduring. But flags themselves need to be retired when they’re unfit for display. 

As a result, many people who need to discard a worn-out flag find themselves with the dilemma of wanting to preserve its symbolic meaning while disposing of its physical remains. It’s a delicate balancing task, and ordinary disposal methods – putting it in the trash and taking it out to the curb – don’t meet the need.

Something more dignified is required.

To Cranberry resident Denise Etter, the public’s lack of familiarity with flag etiquette seemed to be a call for heightened awareness – as well as for practical help. A marketing consultant, her husband is an Army veteran who consistently observes flag protocol. Last week she launched a project designed to make it easier for people to dispose of worn flags in an appropriately respectful manner.

A well-marked collection bin has been placed in a corridor of the Cranberry Township Municipal Center. It’s designed explicitly for the deposit of flags which are no longer suitable for display.

That bin – and others to follow – will be emptied periodically by organizations including the VFW, the American Legion, and the Boy Scouts. The flags they contain will be taken off site where, with appropriate solemn ceremony, they will be burned – which is the preferred method of flag disposition. 

Last Thursday, immediately before Cranberry’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Ms. Etter’s first bin was dedicated following brief remarks by Chairman John Skorupan.  In his comments, Skorupan thanked her and referred to an official U.S. code in which all the flag-related laws enacted by Congress over the years have been compiled.  

“But, like most federal legislation, it’s hard to follow,” he admitted.  “It’s divided into 50 titles; each title is divided into sections, and some of those sections also have appendices and rules and forms. So this project provides an easy, straightforward way for our residents to dispose of their damaged flags.”

To help advance the respectful flag-retirement program, sponsors are invited to purchase the bins along with the graphics that wrap around them. Although Etter's initial plan calls for bins in municipal buildings throughout Western Pennsylvania, placements requested by sponsors for other high-traffic locations, including schools and places of business, will also be honored. 

Anyone interested can learn more by contacting Etter at retireoldglory@gmail.com.