You want to know what days to fly your American flag, dont you?

Well, maybe not if you fly it every day. Every morning my wife takes our flag out to the front yard, attaches it to our telescoping flagpole and runs it up.

I usually watch her do it through the window. If it is really cold, I feel sorry for her and sometimes go out and give her a hand. Once in a while I dont want her to go out there and I sneak out and get the flag up before she does.

I sell flagpoles at my web sites. I recently set up a new site called http://www.aaaflagpoles.com. The triple AAA is to get it in front of other flagpole sellers. Im so clever. Well, Im not sure it works since most people dont know my new site exists.

Be that bold pitch as it is, you need to know the special days for flying the flag in case someone asks you. You will be a font of knowledge. Here are the days according to one of my flagpole catalogs:

New Years Day: to start the year right.

Third Monday in January: to honor Martin Luther King

January 20: because it is Inauguration Day.

February 12: To honor Abraham Lincoln.

Third Monday in February: to honor George Washington.

Easter Sunday: to honor the Easter Bunny.

Second Sunday in May: to honor your dear mother.

May 15: fly your flag at half-staff to honor police officers killed in the line of duty.

Third Saturday in May: to honor the armed forces. It's Armed Forces Day.

Last Monday in May: fly your flag at half-staff until noon to honor our war dead, and then run it all the way up. It's Memorial Day.

June 14: this is Flag Day.

Third Sunday in June: to honor your father.

July 4: to honor our country on Independence Day.

July 27: to honor me and other Korean war vets.

First Monday in September: because its Labor Day.

September 11: fly your flag at half-mast because it is Patriot Day. (Anyone know what this means?)

September 17: to honor the Constitution.

Last Sunday in September: to honor Gold Star mothers who have lost their sons or daughters in war.

Second Monday in October: because it is Columbus Day.

October 27: its Navy Day.

First Tuesday in November: because its Election Day.

November 11: because it is Veterans Day.

Fourth Thursday in November: its Thanksgiving Day.

December 7: to honor Pearl Harbor Day.

December 25: to honor Santa Clause.

You may have special days in your state to add to this list. In Utah for example, the pioneer company leading the Mormon migration landed at Pioneer Park on July 24, 1847. Some of my family dragged in a few months later.

Now you know why we fly Old Glory everyday. Its a lot easier than trying to remember all of these dates.

You can leave your flag up all night too if you shine a light on it at night. Then you never have to take it down unless it is not a storm flag and you want to keep it dry.

Fly Old Glory!

The End

John T Jones, Ph.D.

Jones was a vice president of a Fortune 500 company subsidiary having the major responsibility for research and development and certain engineering functions. After he retired, he became editor of an international trade magazine. Jones is Executive Representative of IWS, sellers of Tyler Hicks wealth-success books and kits. He is a direct mail and mail order marketer and operates a dozen websites.

He has written three technical books, four novels (Bull, Revenge on the Mogollon Rim, Bone China, and In No Way Guilty), and many published papers on business, marketing, engineering and other topics. Details on many of these topics can be found at his personal web site.

Jones is a hack poet and amateur landscape painter. He lives in Idaho with his wife of 52 years. He has five children, three in medicine, a lawyer, and a portrait artist. The Jones? have thirty-two talented grandchildren (many with special musical talent and skills), and one great grand child.

Jones is a prolific writer which started when he was an engineering professor at Iowa State University (Go Cyclones!). He doesn?t know how to stop.