Flag Retirement

If the Flag Retirement Ceremony is to be preformed in front of young children, explain before the ceremony that this is done out of respect and they must be quiet during entire ceremony

During the ceremony it should be completely quiet.

Once the flag has been placed on the fire make sure all parts burn completely.

Do NOT burn anything after the flag has been placed in the fire.

If this is done at an overnight camp, ashes can be taken the next day either by film canister or metal containers.

Lord Baden-Powell always took a small amount of ashes from each of his campfires and would spread those ashes into the next campfire.

The main purpose of the ash ceremony is to bring to all Scouts a history and tradition. In addition, a worldwide fellowship is formed.

Ashes taken from a campfire are sprinkled into the flames of the next campfire. The next morning, when the ashes are cold they are stirred, and each Schout takes some along to mix with their next campfire, along with a list of previous ash fires. If more than one Scout brings ashes to the campfire then the lists are pooled with the dates and places of all campfires recorded and passed on.

The campfire ashes tradition bean at Brownsea Island, Pool Harbor, Dorset in England on August of 1907.

Many disagreements occur when deciding on the "proper" way to retire a flag. Many will say the flag should never be cut, some will say the blue field must be removed prior to burning, others will say only a portion of the blue field must be cut. Since US Code only says a respectful retirement, I present several versions below. Please do not feel offended over one version or another, adjust the ceremony to fit your belief and remember the main point of the ceremony is to show respect and gratitude to the symbol of our country.