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Read the press release here.

Ceremonial Flag Burning Ceremony Hosted By Ald. James Balcer

By Casey Cora | June 13, 2014 5:24am
 Thousands of “unserviceable” flags from city-owned facilities will be included in a flag disposal ceremony on Saturday.
Thousands of “unserviceable” flags from city-owned facilities will be included in a flag disposal ceremony on Saturday.
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Flickr/Donald Lee Pardue

BRIDGEPORT — Homeowners or businesses looking to properly dispose of tattered and worn flags are invited to a flag disposal ceremony hosted Ald. James Balcer (11th).

Billed as the largest flag disposal ceremony in the country, the event is scheduled to take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Flag Day, at 1439 W. 41st St. in the Stockyards Industrial Park.

Thousands of “unserviceable” flags from city-owned facilities will be included in the ceremony, according to a news release from Balcer’s office.

Casey Cora explains how the honorable ceremony is the preferred way to discard old flags:

Those with faded or tattered American, City of Chicago and Prisoners of War-Missing in Action flags are encouraged to bring them to the ceremony for an “honorable” burning.

Balcer, a veteran of the Vietnam War, will be joined by wounded military personnel and members of the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Fire Department.

A provision of federal law states a flag, “when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem for display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”