We have an officer we are thinking about flying a flag for upon his retirement as Chief of a federal position. What is proper? Do we fly it before the Chief Judge holds a retirement ceremony and then after the ceremony, we take it down, fold it and give it to him? What would be the best way to handle this as we'd like to honor him with a flag.

[Peter Ansoff]

Dear Cheri,

There really is no standard way to present a flag, other than the regulations for specific ceremonies such as military funerals. One possibility might be to fly the flag ahead of time at an appropriate location (maybe over the agency headquarters), and then fold it and present it at the retirement ceremony along with a certificate stating when and where it has flown. Trophy companies sell special presentation cases for folded flags that can be enhanced with an engraved plaque.

Let us know how it turns out!

Regards,

Peter Ansoff

[NAVA1974]

A capital idea would be to present him/her with a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol. However, this requires months of advance planning, as it takes about 6 to 8 weeks for the flag to be flown after you make the request. Then it takes them a few weeks to prepare the certificate and mail the flag and cert. back to you. You can specify any date you like as long as it is two months or more in the future.