Flag Day email I received - warning you may need a stomach distress bag

[dflprincess]

Fly the American flag June 14

Have you ever been to a military funeral or seen the retiring of our American flag? The flag is ceremoniously folded into 13 folds. Many believe the number 13 stands for the original 13 colonies, but in facteach fold holds its own special meaning.

The first fold of our flag is a symbol of life.

The second is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life.

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 to attain peace throughout the world.

The fourth represents our weaker nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for His divine guidance.

The fifth 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 is still our country, right or wrong."

The sixth 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 liberty and justice for all.

The seventh is a tribute to our Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that we protect our country and our flag against all her enemies, whether they be found within or without the boundaries of our republic.

The eighth is a tribute to the one who entered in to 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.

The ninth 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.

The 10th is a tribute to father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of our country since they were first born.

The 11th, 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.

The 12th, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost.

The 13th fold, when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, "In God we Trust."

Once the flag is completely folded and tucked in it resembles the hat that the soldiers under General George Washington and the Marines and Sailors under Captain John Paul Jones wore. This also stands as a reminder of what all our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines (both active duty and National Guard/Reserves) have done and are doing today to preserve the very freedoms we enjoy.

Did you know that the red on our flag stands for valor and hardiness, the white for innocence and purity, and the blue for vigilance,
perseverance, and justice?

Our veterans (both past and present), our brave men and women presently serving in the Armed Forces, and their families all deserve our undying gratitude, honor, and respect. One of the best ways to show our gratitude, honor, and respect for their sacrifices is to fly the American flag. Many a mother/father or husband/wife has been handed a folded American flag that was draped on the casket of a loved one who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Let's show our heroes how grateful we in Clermont County are by proudly displaying the American flag at our homes and businesses Flag Day, June 14. God bless America, our veterans and our troops!

I think it's pretty apparent that the author was having an awful time coming up 13 reasons.

[Dr.Phool]

1. And all this time, I thought that it just looked better than wading it up in a ball,

And tossing it in the corner.

[Captain Hilts]

6. I saw the police officer outside the Supreme Court do exactly that once...

I volunteered to help fold it correctly and he declined and carried it wadded up in a ball into the building.

[Kali]

2. Snopes says FALSE

http://www.snopes.com/military/flagfold.htm

[LiberalFighter]

17. Along with the flag folding Snopes mentions the Candy Cane

Claims made about the candy's religious symbolism have become increasingly widespread as religious leaders have assured their congregations that these mythologies are factual, the press have published these claims as authoritative answers to readers' inquiries about the confection's meaning, and several lavishly illustrated books purport to tell the "true story" of the candy cane's origins. This is charming folklore at best, and though there's nothing wrong with finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there wasn't any before, the story of the candy cane's origins is, like Santa Claus, a myth and not a "true story."


This is one way lies are told as truths... by religious leaders.

[Sparkly]

19. LOL- Steven Wright: "Why is the alphabet in that order? Is it because of that song?"

:rofl:

[n2doc]

3. edit: the snopes post says it best.

And most of these "meanings" would have made the founding fathers want to puke.

You should tell him that if he wants to live in a theocracy he should move to the Vatican. Ir Iran. Or Saudi Arabia.

:puke:

[KurtNYC]

4. And here is why we fold the Constitution 13 times

The first fold is because we have only begun to fold this thing 13 times and youhave to start somewhere.

The 2nd through 10th folds are to keep folding this precious document which wisely protect the church from the State and vice versa.

The 11th fold makes it nearly impossible for the Constitution to be shredded by a paper shredder.

The 12th fold makes it completely impossible.

And the 13th fold makes it so that if your Constitution-hating hands even try to run our beloved Constitution through the shredder and replace our democracy with Iranian-style theocracy your shredder will break!

[LiberalFighter]

20. I thought the flag was folded 13 times because of Jesus and 12 apostles

I thought it was done to signify the 39 books of the Old Testament divided by the Triune God.

I thought it was to represent the 13th book of the bible, the 13th chapter and verse 13.

[Captain Hilts]

5. Not true. nt

[meegbear]

7. Can't find any info on this ...

sites have it, but there's no reference to it's origin.

Questionable, until determined.

On edit: I sit corrected. On snopes, as previous poster found.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I receive (and delete) these patriotic emails on a regular basis.

One thing they all seem to have in common is a lack of documentation to support their claims.

[lapfog_1]

9. not only snopes

but ushistory.org reports:

What is the meaning of the folds in a flag-folding ceremony?

There is no reference to meaning of the folds in the Flag Code (see below).

There is a popular but unauthorized flag-folding ceremony that cannot be used in government ceremonies, but can be used in private ceremonies. Click here to see the popular script and a discussion of the ceremony and the Establishment Clause.

In response to the problems with the ceremony above, read a new recommended Air Force Folding Ceremony that is not in conflict with the Establishment Clause.

(so I'm guessing someone came along, possibly at the Air Force Academy, and "invented" the 13 meanings to go with the folding... and then when it was pointed out that this violates the establishment clause, the Air Force changed it again.)

[dflprincess]

22. I figured it was false

The mention in the text about the national motto being "in God we trust" and the "under God" in the pledge were a certainly a signs that it couldn't be any older than the 1950s at best.

It's interesting you mention the Air Force Academy. The person who sent this to me has a sibling that attended the academy and I wonder if that's where she got this.

I get a lot of junk like this from this person (it's a relative so I can't put her on ignore) and I can't tell you how many times I've sent her a snopes link debunking what she's sent. It usually makes her back off for a while.

To combine the comments of two other posters, this would make the founding fathers puke (especially Jefferson and Madison) and if they had read this they probably would have decided the proper way to handle the flag was to roll it into a ball and toss it in a corner until it was time to put it back on the flag pole.

[Dukkha]

10. must have come from the creation museum

since it tries to make up it's own laughable version of history :eyes:

[NMMNG]

11. Amazing how they need to infuse religion (*their* religion) into every little thing

Being religious is fine, but when people try to cram it into everything and everyone it gets to be a bit much.

[Mad_Dem_X]

12. That's hysterical

"I think it's pretty apparent that the author was having an awful time coming up 13 reasons."

LOL - so true.

[EOTE]

13. Ahhh yes...

I had almost forgotten that the founding fathers had created Flag Day as a way of shitting on the Separation of Church and State. Let me see, as I recall, the symbolism of the folds goes something like this:

1 God
2 Military
3 God.... and a little more god...
4 Military..... and Wal-mart - fuck yeah!
5 God... and his son Jesus.
6 God (the merciful)
7 God, guts and guns!
8 Military and screw dem furriners.
9 Did we remember to mention God?
10 Put something in there about the military too!
11 Jewish Soldiers
12 Christian Soldiers
13 Fuck the meek... and all other soldiers other than Jewish and Christian ones.

[matcom]

14. Biggest Crock Of Shit I Have Seen Yet.

obviously the sender of this has never been a Veteran :eyes:

[dflprincess]

23. She isn't

but her husband and her son are both in the Army and I heard through the family grapevine that her husband is heading back for his third tour. They have been and continue to be Bushbots so I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for them.

[EstimatedProphet]

15. Snopes calls stuff like this "Glurge"

Very appropriate name IMO.

[sarge43]

16. Seems to me that the size of the flag would determine the number

of folds. In all my time in the service and some experience with drill and ceremony, I never heard or read of any requirement to have only thirteen folds. The only explanation I ever ran into is that the triangle shape was to resemble the tricorne hat of the Revolutionary War soldiers.

[ComerPerro]

18. I find all this "America is a Christian nation" nonsense to be especially funny

when you consider that "God" was meerely a metaphor used by the founding fathers to explain complex philisophical ideas to an ignorant public.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. "Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains..

and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead." - Arundhati Roy