Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Law would allow a new flag to remember fallen troops
CHEYENNE – House Bill 20, establishing the authorized display of the Honor and Remember flag on state and municipal flag poles, beneath the United States flag, passed the House of Representatives on third reading on Tuesday, by a vote of 46 for, 13 against, and one absent.
Representative Mike Greear (R-Worland, HD27), a veteran and father of an active duty service member, was one of several veterans in the House to vote against the bill.
“It was one of the hardest votes I’ve made in seven years,” said Greear. “I just felt like crap afterwards; it was a hard decision to make.”
The Honor and Remember flag initiative was started by George Lutz, after his son, Private First Class George Lutz, II, was killed by sniper fire in Fallujah, Iraq, on Dec. 29, 2005. Recognizing that there was no official United States flag to honor fallen service members, Lutz designed the flag and began lobbying individual states to adopt the flag as an official symbol, to be flown directly beneath the U.S. flag.
The flag is currently observed as a recognized, authorized flag in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Louisiana, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Missouri, South Carolina, New Jersey, Indiana, Texas, Wisconsin, Tennessee, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Minnesota.
Greear argued on the House floor Tuesday that only one flag truly represents the sacrifice of generations of fallen troops, and that flag is already on display. “People have died for the American flag, that’s why we fly it high,” explained Greear. “It’s a symbol of everything we stand for; I think a single flag says enough, by itself.”
As outlined in HB 20, “Any county, city, town or political subdivision of the state may display the Honor and Remember flag beneath the national flag on any day upon which the national flag is displayed.”
The flag is described as “the same proportions as the national flag. Its design contains a red field that occupies the top three-quarters (3/4) and a white field that occupies the bottom one-quarter (1/4) of the flag. In the center of the red field is a five (5) pointed gold star with the top point located near the top 19 of the red field and the two (2) bottom points extending approximately one-quarter (1/4) of the way into the white field. The gold star has a white border surrounded by a blue border. Between the two (2) bottom points of the star is a folded national flag. At the top of the folded national flag, extending into the center of the gold star, is a stylized flame with one (1) blue part and two (2) red parts. In the white field below the flag, the words ‘Honor and Remember’ are centered.”
While the bill now goes to the senate for approval, Representative Greear hopes that the bill can be amended to honor Gold Star families, while still showing respect to the U.S. flag as the primary symbol in Wyoming.
“I think it would be more effective if the [Honor and Remember] flag were authorized for certain days of remembrance [like Memorial Day and Veterans Day],” said Greear. “The message would be more effective and it would create an opportunity to educate people about Gold Star families, and the individual servicemen and women we’ve lost.”