It’s Flag Day in the USA, and I remember watching the students at a Mexican primary school perform the weekly flag ceremony. Learning about their flag customs inspired my own recollections of my experiences with the American flag as a girl and also its connection with memories of my late husband, who died at a young age, and I want to tell you these stories in this blog post.
| Earlier this year, on a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I received an invitation to visit Leónides Cota Collins Primary School as a guest author. I saw how, at this school (and all schools in Mexico), each Monday the Mexican flag is honored. Students in special school uniforms high-step march up and present the colors, then place the Mexican flag followed by the singing of the Mexican National Anthem. |
While waiting for my reading to begin, I observed the sixth-grade girls—who had achieved the honor with good grades and exemplary behavior—dressed in a special “gala uniform” with bows, beret, and gloves (this is dressier than the daily uniform) process with the Mexican flag for the morning school assembly. Deputy Academic Director, Aguilar Leticia explained, “That ceremony is called ‘honores a la bandera,’ and in Mexico all schools do it every Monday at 8 AM to promote love and identity to the homeland. A girl escort carries the flag and then we sing the national anthem.” | |
After leaving a Girl Scout meeting one day, so proudly dressed in my green uniform and beret, I remember walking home from the military base, Patch Barracks, to our quarters (apartment) in Stuttgart, Germany. The protocol dictated at 5 PM when the flag was lowered and “Taps” played, everyone on base—cars, people—came to a stop. That afternoon I dawdled, much to my friend’s frustration, because I wanted to be able to stand and offer the Girl Scout salute while the flag was lowered.
Each Memorial Day weekend, I lay a yellow rose bouquet with a flag tucked inside at a local Veterans’ Wall in memory of my late husband, CW-4 Larry K. Jones, who died on active duty. Yellow roses, his favorite. The flag, for the country he loved and served.