Washington Bans Recitation of what Flag Folds Represents at ALL Nat'l Cemeteries

done the Honor Guard duty at a funeral, but I've folded many a flag after Evening Colors (lowering of the flag at sunset for you non-Navy/Corps types). We never counted the folds, just got it done. We were never instructed on the number of folds or what they supposedly meant, just get it folded! I've got a lot of friends/co-workers who have been or are in Honor Guard duty, in addition to their normal job. They don't count the folds either...just do it solemnly, smoothly, as good as possible, then present it to the grieving next of kin.

and left the following comment there.

"Why is it that when our government or these self-anointed “freedom watchdogs” demand something, it always requires that someone else lose their right to exercise a freedom? How is that “culture”? We keep surrendering our freedoms to the perpetually offended. This is not an innocuous event. Cultures require rituals that institutionalize values, to remind us who we are and how we got here. Instead, we are retreating into an amorphous “culture” of androgynous amoeba festering in some darkening corner of history. We are dying."

Now this is something that falls under the azshattery category.A sad day when 1 frigging "offended" but-muncher can end a long-held tradition.This is beyond incredible that ANYONE would come up with this. Lunacy,plain and simple.

It's not the flag folding that's banned, it's the recitation of those "symbols".

And I've got to tell you, I've attended many military funerals, including my father's, and I never heard that recitation.

I don't know who came up with it, or where it started, or who determined what the symbolism of the folds is all about. It's apparently something new.

But frankly, I think they're superfluous and unnecessary.


I just re-read the symbols, and had to laugh. Many of them struck me as ludicrous. 9th fold for womanhood??? 10th fold for father? Where's Mom's fold? 12th fold for Christians? Where's the fold for Zoroastrians? How about a fold for pets?


The whole thing's a tempest in a teapot.


At my Dad's funeral -- and at Retreat every day on every military post, at least while I was in the Army -- the folding itself is ceremonious enough, and quite solemn.

Who needs some yahoo standing there reading off a bunch of "This stands for..." verbiage?

As to the lawsuit aspect... it's over the top. But whoever came up with the idea in the first place should have his brainpan scrubbed with Brillo.

How long does a flag-folding take if you have to listen to that whole recitation?

Do you get to make a Starbucks run, or what?

I like what the folds stand for, and why can't the recitation just be optional? It's silly for something like this to be banned across the board. Can't the grieving party decide?

PPhil, I like that Michelle Malkin quote, so true. I'm sick of having to hide my religion because some atheist or hedonist doesn't want to see anyone in the world have a right to be publicly religious.

You're right, it is on the recitation. But at the behest of the families, not some SFB bystander to claim offense. It was not their ceremony!! That being said, a family requests which parts of the ceremony are to be included, Sqiuddy...and I have not heard that recitation myself. Just the flag folding alone is enough to make me choke back the tears at Reveille.

I'm not anti-religion. I'm not pro-religion. That's an individual choice. I'm religion-neutral.


I think both sides of this have their heads firmly buried.

I agree that if the family wants this stuff read, they should have the option. There are all kinds of choices and decisions made by a family as to the nature of the ceremony before the actual burial. For all I care, they can recite Mother Goose.

And by the way, what happens if the "guest of honor" is an atheist? They stay silent during folds 2, 4, 11, and 12? How's that work?

But again, I also found the "symbols" themselves pretty laughable in many cases. And if reciting these "symbols" is the current SOP, if I were making the choice I'd tell them I want a silent flag-folding.

In many cases, a moment of silence is much more meaningful than speech, particularly when the "speech" reads like it came off a box of Cracker Jacks.

Sorry, Nee, I'm not with you on this one.

That should have been to Squiddy, not Nee.

My bad! Sorry.

That is an excellent comment! How true that if it weren't for things like religion,ethnicity, flags or even the military, that values would not have the same meaning. We take that for granted alot in this Country because of PC.
I wonder why we Christian folk are constantly asked to make the changes while those non-beleivers and other radical folk squish the rest of any traditions created by religion, ethnicity the Founding Fathers or otherwise?
You are right, we are dying...but I ain't going quietly!

I didn't think you were anti, not at all, just to clarify. In fact, I had misread the article and I stand corrected. As to the sillyness of the recitation: well, it originated with an Air Force Chaplain, who wrote the "script." I believe it was the 70's or 80's. Given it was a Chaplain, you can see why so many different references appear. So, it is a fairly young kind of tradition. Again, at a family's behenst. And, frankly, does the complainant really believe as an observer it was meant to offend? No way. Only because he took it personal. A rational thinking person would shrug it off.
PS My hubby laughed at me, because even though I know "In God We Trust" is on our money I had no idea that it was called the National Motto and he did. I hride the thspecial buth!!

First, thanks for the kind words and visit to my blog.

Second, I've never heard the list of what each fold means before.

The only thing I ever remember being told was that it was folded in a triangle to commemorate the tri-corn hat that the original patriots wore, and perhaps the trinity also. I'll have to do some research, I guess.

I'm with you, though. The flag folding ceremony is beautiful, and I love to watch it performed with precision. It really doesn't need any words to cloud the issue. It chokes me up too.

Thanks for visiting my blog, and leaving comments. I'll have to pick up the meerkat DVDs soon.

I was 11, and don't remember the ceremony well, but my grandmother has the flag folded from my grandfather's funeral. If I recall, all they did while folding the flag was play some moving music, which was probably more touching than any spoken ceremony dictating what the folds mean.

I'm guessing the tradition was one part a way of showing respect, and three parts pomp and circumstance. I agree that it's ridiculous that one offended person (or one complaint) can ban something like this. It's just one more thing you can add to the long list of bans enforced by people who believe in freedom of religion as long as it isn't Christianity.

I didn't know that was the National Motto either. I say you and I take over the special bus and run down those trying to make us go quietly! Whee!

Dear patriotdefender,

Thank you for your post.

Military Rituals and Historical Traditions are an integral part of the Heroic History of the great Nation of ours.

They embody the Spirit, the Word, and the Action of the Constitution of the United States.

They are, in fact, "useful" Performing Arts sustaining the Nation's Will to resist all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Therefore, Washington bureaucrats who want to ban any established Military Rituals and Historical Traditions perform the worse disservice to the Nation at a time of battle with Terror.

I was not referring to you as anti-religious, so I apologize if there was a misunderstanding in what I wrote!

I just meant that it seems we have too many busybodies going about trying to make laws against this or that public expression of (usually) Christian faith.

I have only been to one military funeral. And, there was no casket. But the silence and the crisp actions of the folding are enough. My beef is of course, that the Air Force started the tradition and now some PC complainer is ruining it for them.

Wheee! is right. Never Surrender and never go quietly!! Give me liberty or Give Me death! or
I have but one life to live and that is for my Country!

Amen! You stated that quite eloquently. Thanks for stopping.

Dear patriotdefender,

Thank YOU for having a link to American Ideological Society on your Blog Roll.

This is indeed an outrage. Now, at my uncle's military funeral at Arlington when he was killed in Nam, there were no words, just the silent flag folding. The silence spoke volumes to me, and that part was probably the worst emotionally for me. The symbolism in itself is awe inspiring. When that flag is folded there is no doubt of the meaning without those words someone has since written.

That being said, I am outraged that a family who is having a private burial for their fallen loved one can be assaulted in this way by some loony leftist. What business is it of someone outside the family who is not a participant in the ceremony? Where do these people get off with this? I feel as pissed as you.

In my opinion, whatever a family decides to do to bury their loved one, whatever kind of ceremony and words spoken is their right and only their right. What happened to the right to free speech?

This is so over the top. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Got it, Squiddy, I think I misread your earlier post....



I just posted a new essay that actually isn't about politics, RINO Rudy, the fire, guns, or California lunacy.

How about THEM apples?

I was a SNCO in the Honor Guard during at my last duty station before retiring. It is a family choice and usually we are told what religious affiliation the deceased veteran claimed. The flag folding takes the same amount of time whether there is a recitation or not at a funeral. One of the hardest duties is presenting the flag to the family. It is almost impossible to not cry, even when just folding the flag, let alone facing the family. We also provide a rifle salute at some funerals. Depending on the veterans status, it might only be a two/three person detail, up to a full detail.

What this amounts to is the government interfering with the chosen religious preference of the veteran. It is not about the people that might hear the expressions of faith but about the veteran and family. Taking away this tradition is the government denying a Constitutional right guaranteed to everyone, IOW it is an individual choice to make not the government.

Good job on this article and I see there is a petition to sign regarding this. I'll have to find the link for you.

New post at my blog when you get a chance.