Hi Pack 200 (and any other organization that needs a flag ceremony)!
This is the official Indoor Opening and Closing Flag Ceremonies for our Pack. This was accepted by the Pack Leadership at the November 2008 Leadership Meeting.
I put this together after a great deal of research on the web reviewing several flag ceremonies and after watching our own Pack for several years as all our dens conducted flag ceremonies. We all seemed to do them a little differently; then as Tigers started, they had to figure out what to do, too.
At the end of this document you’ll also find some interesting information about the flag. I included the information I found on the Internet and references where applicable.
This ceremony has now been tested with both Webelos 2s and Tigers so it works well. We think the ceremony if good for few reasons:
- It forces the scouts to coordinate crossing the flags; US Flag closer to the audience as done by convention.
- It keeps the American Flag un-posted until after the “two” so that the person holding the flag and the rest of the color guard do not salute the flag since the color guard, by convention, does not salute the flag.
- The ceremony is specific enough to teach even Tigers
- It compels the audience to salute as the flag is moving into view. This proper flag etiquette asspecified in the “Conduct during hoisting, lowering or passing of flag” section of the US Flagcode.
- It works for us. There appears to be no nationally specified or mandated flag ceremony or officialBSA flag ceremony (that I can find); rather, different organizations seem to have their own variations as their convention and custom dictate. As long as all are based on guidance in the official US Flag Code.
United_States_Flag_Code and http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagcode.htm
Comments or requests for revision are most welcome. We’ll update this document as necessary.
Don Rowley
Outgoing Committee Chair 2008 Pack Training Leader
Webelos Den Leader, Den 1