Mary Queen of Peace Assembly 2112 Flag Retirement Ceremony

The Mary Queen of Peace Assembly in Arlington conducted a Flag Retirement ceremony for St. Joseph Catholic School during Catholic Schools Week. Due to the weather conditions, the retirement ceremony was conducted inside. Since the school could not have all the students together as an assembly, the ceremony was streamed to each of the classrooms while four students participated in the cutting of the stripes. During the ceremony, students learned about the history of the flag, the rules and how to respect the flag. As each stripe was laid into the barrel, it was announced which state that stripe represented and the Honor Guard saluted. When it came to the “Field of Blue”, the four students respectfully laid this onto the pit as all the students stood in their classrooms. There was then a moment of silence in honor of all those who lost their life defending the flag. All the students then recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang the Star Spangled Banner. Because we could not have a fire during the ceremony, the retired flag was later respectfully burned and buried.