Stars and Stripes Forever

I framed a U.S. flag at work today. It came with a nifty little foldout printed with the rules of flag etiquette. As there are no servicemen in my family and I have never handled a government issued flag before today, I can honestly say I have learned something new. ( I did date a sailor once be we parted ways before we got to the flag folding stage of our relationship.) Anyway, along with instructions on how to fold the flag so that no red shows was a very helpful list of dos and don'ts. Such as never hanging the flag so that it touches your "merchandise." Never use the U.S. flag as "drapery." In other words, if you live in a mobile home in Alabama, that flag you are using for a curtain is in direct violation of U.S. code. The leaflet also mentioned that according to U.S. standards a nylon or cotton flag only lasts 90 days. Although I could not find the same information on any of the .gov pages I have searched, there was a section of the code that addressed disposal of old flags. Burn 'em. Yep. BURN THEM. I had previously been under the impression that flag burning was unpatriotic. And once again darlings I was wrong.