Memorial Day In Colorado Things To Know About Flag Protocol

COLORADO – Many people commemorate Memorial Day with family picnics, barbecues and trips to the beach, but a better way to think of the three-day holiday — this year, on May 25-27 — is as a time of honor for the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. So whether you’re flying flag at half-staff to show others in Colorado that you value their sacrifice or attending a memorial service at one of the local military cemeteries or war memorials, following proper protocol is important.

Related: Memorial Day In Littleton, 5 Things To Know

Flying a flag at half-staff isn’t as simple as hoisting it halfway up the flagpole. Specific guidance is found in the U.S. Code, Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 7, which instructs that any time a flag is flown at half-staff, it “should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position.” When the flag is retired for the night, it “should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.”

On Memorial Day, special protocol is observed. The flag should fly at the half-staff position until noon only, and then be raised to the top of the staff for the remainder of the day. This custom, unique to Memorial Day, honors the war dead in the morning of Memorial Day, but then the flag is raised to full-staff at noon by the living, “who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.”

The custom appears to date back to at least 1906, when an Army regulations book included instructions for the procedure. Congress made it a permanent part of the U.S. Code (Title 4, Section 6) with the proclamation: “For the nation lives, and the flag is a symbol of illustration.”

Not everyone has a flagpole. For flags that are mounted from the side of a home, window or balcony, media mogul Martha Stewart advises affixing a black crepe streamer to the staff immediately below the flag’s spearhead — the golden ball or spear-shaped ornament at the top of the staff. On a standard-sized flag, the crepe should be no wider than one foot.

In all cases, make sure flag is in pristine condition and isn’t tattered and torn, and that its red and white bars and the union (the blue field of stars) are bright and vibrant. If the flag is no longer suitable for display, dispose of it properly, preferably in a ceremonial burning. American Legion posts and other veteran groups often have flag-disposal ceremonies.

Observing proper etiquette is equally important at Memorial Day services at cemeteries and other venues. When the flag is hoisted:

• Spectators who aren’t in military uniform should face the flag, stand at attention and place their hands over their hearts.

• Those who are in uniform should give a proper military salute.
• A man who is not in uniform, but is wearing a hat, should remove it with his right hand and hold it at his left shoulder with his palm resting on his heart.
• Attendees who are not U.S. citizens should stand at attention.

When the flag advances in a moving column, it is appropriate for all persons to salute it as it passes.