Guardian of Old Glory

COEUR d'ALENE — It breaks Jackie Kannegaard’s heart to see the American flag disused, so she wants to remind people how to care for their flags. 

“When I was young, in elementary school, every morning we would gather out around the flag,” Kannegaard, 91, of Coeur d'Alene, said. “And every afternoon, when we left, we would go out and take it down. It makes me sad when I see the flag bound. It really makes me sad that our care of the flag isn’t what it used to be.”

She's lived through all the wars, she said, and she teaches her family to care for the flag and pray over it. She knows where nearly every American Flag hangs in her community.

“I know where all of them are and most of them are wadded up,” she said. 

Large flags at stores usually hang true, she said, but some residential flags can go unnoticed when the wind wraps them around the pole or over a garage. 

“Most of the people take care of their flag, but then there are those that don’t,” Kannegaard said. “I see these and it just drives me nuts. And I don’t want them to take them down, but I want them to take care of them.”

Taking care of the flag includes a few simple steps, according to the Veterans of Foreign War Post guidelines. 

Hanging it correctly

• An American flag should always be highest in the air next to state or local flags.
• On the same staff an American flag is at the peak, above any other flag.
• When displayed with a speaker's platform, it must be above and behind the speaker. If mounted on a staff it is on the speaker's right.
• In decorating, never use a bunched or bound flag. Use bunting with the blue on top, then white, then red.
• On special days, the flag may be flown at half-staff. On Memorial Day it is flown at half-staff until noon and then raised.
• Illuminate a flag if it is left hanging over night. 

Special Rules

Do not:

• let the flag touch the ground
• fly flag upside down unless there is an emergency
• carry the flag flat, or carry things in it
• use the flag as clothing
• store the flag where it can get dirty
• use it as a cover
• fasten it or tie it back. Always allow it to fall free
• draw on, or otherwise mark the flag

"I know it's a constant effort here at the post to keep the flag from winding up," said Dave Morgensen, quartermaster for the VFW Post 889 in Coeur d'Alene.

The VFW Post 889 has occasionally had to call in the fire department to untangle it. They encourage people to care for their flags but understand it's a journey, not a destination. 

"It certainly is important as when you see it of course if you’re able to fix it," Morgensen said.

Kannegaard wants her neighbors to know how to take care of their flags so she doesn’t have to see them bound, bunched, dark, wet or tattered. 

Kannegaard has tried to unwind flags when she sees them, on occasions, but she said she’s too short to reach them. 

If a flag tangles so much that it becomes tired or tattered, Morgensen also encourages people to bring them to the box at 406 N. Fourth St. so they can be disposed of properly by the post. 

“They just have to love the flag enough to take care of it,” she said. “I’m a Catholic so I do three Hail Marys and ask God to save our country,” Kannegaard said. “You notice how you feel when you feel when you see a flag flying. Does it spark your patriotism?”

    Flag etiquette is to regularly unwind an American Flag, even if the weather works against the efforts.