Early Christian America

Memorialize the Folding of the American Flag

Symbols Memorialize "Meaning":  Folding of the American Flag

The first fold of the American flag is a symbol of life.

The United States of America has deeply rooted foundations and in so many areas, our generation misses the meaning of traditional acts once pregnant with feeling and attachment. One of those sets of traditions involves the folding of the flag.

Whether or not I as an American understand "where or how the symbol first originated" is not the important point. The important point is what depth of feeling, what range of expression and intimacy was associated with the symbolic sign or gesture involved. That is certainly the case here. Most Americans have witnessed the "folding of the American flag" in ceremonies pertaining to the following:

• Military events (especially funerals honoring the person now deceased)

• Care in the keeping and preservation of the flag in general (which once necessitated greater carefulness and specific "steps" to its folding)

• Flag folding accompanying use of the flag on government, business, public, and sports properties and during events hosted by such entities.
• Private use of the flag, and the folding of the American flag accompanying it.

The first fold in the ceremony designates "Life". Take the military funeral, for instance. In our heritage, the military presence was always deemed to represent the life of the people of the United States… NOT conquest nor even "public policy".  A soldier or sailor represented his people in his military duty and capacity. In other words, he was oath-bound to defend his people from harm… by putting himself (or herself) "in Harms Way". Thus, the life of the soldier, sailor, (today, also the pilot), and officer was pledged by oath for the preservation of the life of a people…the People of the United States of America.

This emphasis first developed in New England among the Puritans (in their symbolic ceremonies), whose "armed forces" (for example, their New England Confederation) consisted of all able-bodied men who were expected to be ready by their colonial governments to react to threat to the community, at a minute’s notice in case of invasion or attack. The famous "Minute Men" developed from that same heritage. Men pledged and ready at any time to step into harm’s way if the life of a community was imperiled.

Note here: the object was preservation of life, not conquest nor plunder. That was the distinctively different message of Christianity. Nations were to get gain only through honest labor, commercial enterprise, or inheritance… not through plunder, deceit, political coercion, or savagery. Consequently, "life" became the "reason for being" of any military organization, as opposed to a plundering ethic of nations throughout history.

In his outstanding documentation of the early affections and beliefs of the colonists of America, historian BF Morris once wrote of the Christian foundations of our "symbolic" heritage ("declarations"):

The historic grandeur and moral significance of the civil and political annals of the American nation consist in their Christian spirit  and  declarations. The  inspiration of civil and religious liberty which they embody; the fundamental and inalienable rights of human nature which they announce oand defend; the basis of just and orderly organic governments (ed. Constitution, Bill of Rights, state and local governance), and the civil structures…. that rest upon it …unite in recording and presenting them in a Christian form and spirit…

The second "fold" in the folding of the American flag is a symbol of our belief in the eternal life.

This fold in particular, building upon the emphasis of "life" in the first fold, encapsulated the distinctively Christian calling of faith… The second fold represented "eternal life".

Again, the military usage in colonial and early U.S.A. history. The deceased soldier or sailor "Represented" the people and their greatest aspirations and beliefs. In early America, and well into the 20th century, even our Supreme Court (in decisions as late as the early 1950s), called us "a Christian nation". The second fold in the folding of the American flag represented such Christian belief.

Much of that emphasis has been taken from the ceremony due to the improper recollection of our heritage. This nation did call itself a "Christian nation" and took as a motto "In God We Trust". Reflecting that heritage … 

• we see the presence of chaplaincy in the Armed Forces, in Congress, and hospitals.
• We once saw the Bible on the witness stand of our courts.
• Our generation has missed entirely (as do our churches) the fact that the courts themselves are symbolically arrayed with Christian and church symbolism (for example, the judge with the black robes, symbolic of "justice", judgment and the Judge of all the Earth, the Lord.)
• The jury, arising again during Magna Carta, which, in turn, developed as a call from the Christian laws of King Alfred the Great of England who incorporated the moral and civil legislation of the Bible, specifically Exodus 20 – 24, into the Anglo – Saxon laws of the ninth century A.D.
• We witness the Presidents of our history being "sworn in " with the use of the Bible
• We see our thoroughly inconsistent Supreme Court denouncing the use of the Christian faith and its symbols throughout our country, while still allowing the Ten Commandments to remain emblazoned on its walls.

So, in the folding of the American flag ceremony below, understand that the folds once meant far, far more than the folding of the flag. The folds were each structured to recount some aspect of Christian truth.

The third fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 a Christian peace throughout the world.

The fourth fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony is a call to examine our hearts as a people and individually. It is with our heart 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 fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony 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 tenth fold in the folding of the American flag ceremony is a tribute to fatherhood, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of our country since they were first born.

The eleventh fold, in the eyes of a Hebrew citizen, represented the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon, and glorified, in their eyes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The twelfth fold, in the eyes of a Christian citizen, represented an emblem of eternity and glorified, in their eyes, God the Father, the Son, and Holy Ghost.

When the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding us of our national motto, "In God we Trust."

- Wayne Sedlak, ICHR