SAN DIEGO–County Supervisor Greg Cox announced the creation of a regional program to make it easier for residents to properly dispose of their United States flags.
“In a couple of weeks, on July 4th residents throughout San Diego will be proudly flying the U.S. flag in honor of our nation’s birthday,” said Cox on Friday. “And with today being Flag Day, we thought what better day to let people know of this new program that will allow them to dispose of old or tattered flags with the proper respect they deserve.”
The County Flag Retirement program is patterned after one sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) that allows people to properly dispose of flags in accordance with the U.S. flag code. Supervisor Cox is President of NACo and wanted to bring the program to San Diego.
The boxes will be available in libraries starting July 5. Under the program, flag retirement boxes will be placed at both County, City and participating libraries throughout the region.
“County Supervisor Greg Cox’s Flag Retirement Box program will give San Diegans the opportunity to retire their American Flags with the dignity and respect they deserve. The American Flag is a symbol of our freedom, and it is wonderful that all City of San Diego libraries will be participating in this program,” stated Councilmember Chris Cate.
Residents can simply visit a library and put their flags in a box. The boxes will be collected regularly by local Boy Scout troops and delivered to American Legion posts and Us4Warriors, a nonprofit group that helps veterans. American Legion posts and Us4Warriors will then conduct flag retirement ceremonies so they can continue with the retirement process. Many of those who are retiring are even considering talking to an estate planning attorney to help them with any legal matters.
The program is free and is done in partnership with the Us4Warriors Foundation, The American Legion and the Boy Scouts of America, San Diego-Imperial Council.
For more information on the initiative, visit www.NACo.org/Connecting or call 1-888-444-1415, ext. 4.
