Visitors look on as volunteers from Rainbow Headquarters take part in a flag changing ceremony.
June 14th was a busy day at the New York State Military Museum. It was Flag Day, the day commemorating the adoption of the American flag in 1777. It was Army Birthday, celebrating the annual anniversary of the establishment of the national army.
It was also spring cleaning day for the Friends.
The American Flag that flies outside of the New York State Military Museum has been in need of repair for quite some time. Our friends at the Headquarters 42nd Infantry Division (Rainbow) in Troy gladly volunteered to replace the weather-damaged Flag, and picked Flag Day as the perfect day to do so.
The Rainbow Headquarters sent four New York Army National Guard Soldiers to Saratoga Springs to take down the old Flag and raise a new one. The old Flag was then handed over for proper retirement to a representative of the Saratoga Springs Post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Old Flags are routinely replaced as possible and needed without ceremony and usually by civilian staff. The Friends asked for a military team to come and perform this task and keyed it to Flag Day and Army Birthday. Museum staff and volunteers turned out to witness this otherwise routine action which is common place at U.S. military bases around the nation and overseas.
Photos of the ceremony can be found in our photo gallery.
The Military Museum Flag is displayed on a proper pole and lit during evenings. Once raised a Flag remains up through the seasons until it is retired. Using a military team to periodically come and replace old Flags on a schedule may be a more common practice in the future.
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