Los Alamos Elks Lodge to host annual Flag Day celebration, flag retirement drop-off
A labeled can outside the south entrance will collect worn flags before the June 14 ceremony, giving residents a place to retire them properly.
Worn and damaged flags can be left at Los Alamos Elks Lodge 2083 before its Flag Day celebration, turning the Trinity Drive chapter house into a local drop-off point for respectful retirement as well as a ceremonial gathering place.
The annual observance is set for Sunday, June 14, at 1601 Trinity Drive in Los Alamos. The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. and end with a light lunch. A labeled can outside the south entrance will take flags before the event, and community members may also bring damaged flags to the lodge for proper disposal. All are welcome to attend.
The observance carries more than pageantry. Flag Day traces back to Bernard J. Cigrand, who arranged a school celebration of the American flag on June 14, 1885, in Waubeka, Wisconsin, marking the 108th anniversary of the Continental Congress adoption of the Stars and Stripes. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks became the first national organization to officially celebrate Flag Day in 1907, and Elks lodges were required to observe it annually beginning in 1911.
The holiday later gained broader national standing. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed a national observance in 1916, and President Harry S. Truman signed the 1949 law making Flag Day permanent. The U.S. Code identifies June 14 as Flag Day, the anniversary of the June 14, 1777 Continental Congress adoption of the Stars and Stripes, and Truman’s proclamation urged Americans to display the flag at home or other suitable places and reflect on citizenship.
For Los Alamos, the ceremony gives that history a local setting. Los Alamos Elks Lodge 2083 identifies itself as a members-only nonprofit organization, but its Flag Day program opens the door to the wider community and gives residents a practical place to retire service-worn flags with dignity. The lodge’s ritual emphasizes respectful disposal of unserviceable flags, a detail that makes the annual gathering feel civic-minded as well as traditional.
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