OTTUMWA, IOWA -- For Monday's Facebook story of the day, our fans wanted to know the proper etiquette for displaying and disposing of an American flag.
The flag is customarily displayed from sunup until sundown, although it is permissible to fly it for twenty-four hours a day as a patriotic display. The flag should not be displayed during inclement weather and should never be carried sideways. It should never touch the ground.
When folding the flag, a triangular fold is the proper etiquette.
Flags can be mended, repaired or washed, but when a flag is tattered or torn, it should be burned, and never thrown away or discarded.
"If you have a flag on your flagpole and it's tattered and torn, I can speak for most veterans, they would rather see no flag at all than a tattered and torn flag hanging on a flagpole," said Denny Whitson, of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. "And I've threatened to stop by several places and just take them down, because it's disrespectful."
Tattered or torn flags displayed on graves should be disposed of in the same manner.
If you have a flag to be disposed of, the VFW collects them and gives them to local Boy Scouts for proper treatment.
For more information on flag etiquette, visit the VFW website.
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