LAMORINDA WEEKLY | Eagle Scout project for retired US flags


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Many Americans proudly fly a United States flag at their homes or businesses, but what do you do with it when it's tattered and torn? It's considered disrespectful to throw a flag in the trash like any other item.

Just as there is etiquette for displaying Old Glory, there is also etiquette for disposing flags in a dignified manner. In 1923 when the National Flag Conference met in Washington D.C., its members created the Flag Code which states that "the flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing." Furthermore, "the approved method of disposing of unserviceable flags has long been that they be destroyed by burning." This service is specifically performed by various organizations such as American Legions, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Boy Scouts of America.

2023 Campolindo High School graduate and Eagle Scout Griffin Bartis completed his Eagle service project in December, 2022 - a permanent retired U.S. flag repository, located at the Russell J. Bruzzone memorial hut (the red hut) located at 1279 Moraga Way.

In Lamorinda, you may deposit your unserviceable United States Flag (no other types of flags please) into Bartis's U.S. flag drop box and rest assured that it will be respectfully retired by the Boy Scouts of Moraga Troop 212 in a dignified service.