Flag Day

Flag Day

The flags come to the Windsor American Legion post showing the effects of years of wind and weather. Sometimes, they have damage from wars.

“We get them in all stages, from faded to torn and tattered,” said Cmdr. Jim Cummings.

The Windsor American Legion Post No. 109, 624 Ash St., on Saturday hosted its annual flag retirement ceremony. The Windsor Legion and Cmdr. Dan Barrera have been hosting the ceremony for more than 17 years. Today is Flag Day.

“We usually do the ceremony close to Flag Day, which is June 14,” Barrera said.

This year, they expect to retire more than 100 flags from people all over northern Colorado.

“We mostly retire United States flags, but people will bring Colorado flags, as well as other state flags,” Barrera said. “Every flag should be retired properly, which is why we do all flags.”

He said the correct way to retire a flag is to burn it.

“I hate to burn flags and use that word, but when we retire them, that’s what we have to do,” Barrera said.

Before the flags are retired, Cummings reads a verse about the flags. After that, the group uses sticks to hold the flags over the fire until they are completely burned. While many flags that come to the legion are in disrepair, flags that are still seen as serviceable are saved and used again by the Legion.