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Webmaster's Note: There is no "official" flag folding ceremony script created by law or regulation. For more information please see http://www.ushistory.org/Betsy/more/folds.htm . THE FLAG FOLDING CEREMONY REPRESENTS THE SAME RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES ON WHICH OUR COUNTRY WAS ORIGINALLY FOUNDED. THE PORTION OF THE FLAG DENOTING HONOR IS THE CANTON OF BLUE CONTAINING THE STARS, REPRESENTING STATES OUR VETERANS SERVED IN UNIFORM. THE CANTON FIELD OF BLUE DRESSES FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND IS INVERTED ONLY WHEN DRAPED AS A PALL ON A CASKET OF A VETERAN WHO HAS SERVED OUR COUNTRY HONORABLY IN UNIFORM. NARRATOR (When honor guard members halt) READ: THE FIRST FOLD OF OUR FLAG IS THE SYMBOL OF LIFE. Narrator (PAUSE) THE SECOND FOLD IS A SYMBOL OF OUR BELIEF IN THE ETERNAL LIFE. (PAUSE) THE THIRD IS MADE IN HONOR AND REMEMBRANCE OF THE VETERAN DEPARTING OUR RANKS, WHO GAVE A PORTION OF LIFE FOR THE DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY AND TO ATTAIN PEACE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. (PAUSE) THE FOURTH FOLD REPRESENTS OUR WEAKER NATURE; FOR, AS AMERICAN CITIZENS TRUSTING IN GOD, IT IS IN HIM WE TURN TO IN TIMES OF PEACE AS WELL AS IN TIMES OF WAR FOR HIS DIVINE GUIDANCE. (PEACE) THE FIFTH FOLD IS A TRIBUTE TO OUR COUNTRY, FOR IN THE WORDS OF STEPHEN DECATUR, "OUR COUNTRY, IN DEALING WITH OTHER COUNTRIES, MAY SHE ALWAYS BE RIGHT; BUT IT STILL IS OUR COUNTRY; RIGHT OR WRONG." (PAUSE) THE SIXTH FOLD REMINDS US OF THE SIXTH BATTLE-WEARY FIGHTERS WHO VIGILANTLY STRUGGLED TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNT SURIBACHE ON IWO JIMA DURING WORLD WAR II. ONCE THERE, THEY PROUDLY RAISED ABOVE THE BATTLE. OUR FLAG, THE SYMBOL "THAT WE ALL HOLD THE DEAR," THE SYMBOL OF "FREEDOM, DEMOCRACY, GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE." IT IS OUR DUTY TO DEFEND THE FLAG WHICH STANDS FOR THEM ALL (PAUSE) THE SEVENTH FOLD IS FOR WHERE OUR HEARTS LIE. IT IS WITH OUR HEARTS THAT WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH THE LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. (PAUSE) THE EIGHTH FOLD IS A TRIBUTE TO THE ONE WHO ENTERED ONTO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, THAT WE MIGHT SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY, AND TO HONOR MOTHER, FOR WHOM IT FLIES ON MOTHER'S DAY. (PAUSE) THE NINTH FOLD IS A TRIBUTE TO WOMANHOOD; FOR IT HAS BEEN THROUGH THEIR FAITH, LOVE, LOYALTY, AND DEVOTION THAT THE CHARACTER OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE MADE THIS COUNTRY GREAT HAVE BEEN MOLDED. (PAUSE) THE TENTH FOLD IS A TRIBUTE TO FATHER, FOR HE, TOO, HAS GIVEN HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS FOR THE DEFENSE OF OUR COUNTRY SINCE HE OR SHE WAS FIRST BORN. (PAUSE) THE ELEVENTH FOLD, IN THE EYES OF A HEBREW CITIZEN, REPRESENTS THE LOWER PORTION OF THE SEAL OF KING DAVID AND KING SOLOMON AND GLORIFIES, IN THEIR EYES, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, ISAAC AND JACOB. (PAUSE) THE TWELFTH FOLD, IN THE EYES OF A CHRISTIAN CITIZEN, REPRESENTS AN EMBLEM OF ETERNITY AND GLORIFIES, IN THEIR EYES, GOD THE FATHER, THE SON, AND THE HOLY GHOST. (PAUSE) WHEN THE FLAG IS COMPLETELY FOLDED, THE STARS ARE UPPERMOST, REMINDING US OF OUR NATIONAL MOTTO, "IN GOD WE TRUST." (PAUSE) (INSERT NAME), FOR UNFAILING AND LOYAL SERVICE TO YOUR COUNTRY, WE PRESENT THIS FLAG, WHICH WAS UNFURLED (OR FLOWN, ETC.) (PAUSE FOR PHOTO) (INSERT NAME) returns the flag to flag bearer and they depart. |
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