A New Chapter Begins...

One of the services the Submarine Veterans of North Texas provides is we honorably retire old United States flags. We currently have two locations in North Texas and one location in Galveston where we collect flags for disposal.

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During a lunchtime conversation, a cashier, Renea Daniel, at a local restaurant said, "I have a flag I will give you, but I don't want you to destroy it. It's a bicentennial flag and it's still in really good shape. Do you think you could find something else to do with it besides retire it?"

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We gave it some thought.

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Our bicentennial flag is going to go on a journey. During the meeting on February 21, 2026, it was proposed that this special flag be taken to various military installations, ships, historic sites and parks and flown, whenever possible, and documented with pictures. Those pictures and the information surrounding the flag's journey will be documented on this page. We create a carrying case for this flag and members will take it with them as they travel for personal business and vacations.

 

After the meeting, a discussion was held between some of the officers, and it was decided to expand this to flying the bicentennial flag at any location within the country that gives us permission. As a result, we hope to get a much more interesting story for our special flag!

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A little bit about our flag: This flag is known as a Bennington Flag. Traditionally, the canton, the blue field, extends down seven stripes from the top in the "Betsy Ross" style flag. For the Bennington Flag, the canton extends down nine stripes. The 76 represents the 1776 Declaration of Independence, and the 13 stars in the arch above the 76 and 13 stripes represent the first 13 colonies. This is a legal United States flag, and specifically represents the Battle of Bennington, which took place in 1777, and is therefore considered a Revolutionary War symbol. However, it is believed to be a 19th century creation by Nathanial Fillmore and is occasionally referred to as a "Fillmore Flag." This style of flag was frequently flown on government buildings for the United States Bicentennial and was widely used from 1975 to approximately 1984.

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In addition, while going through our retired flags, we recently discovered we were given a 48 star flag in remarkably good condition. We found a local seamstress who instantly agreed to repair the flag at no charge, and we are now flying this flag along with our Bicentennial flag whenever we can. After researching key markers on this flag, we have come to determine that this flag is most likely from the 1910's or 1920's and is therefore almost certainly over 100 years old.

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Please join us in celebrating these two flags on their newest journey! If you or your business would like us to fly and document our flags at your location, please contact us at the link below!