Flags in Wyoming: Long may they wave – until they’re tattered by extreme wind
This flag in Guernsey (as seen prior to its being replaced) was tattered and torn after bracing high winds. The day prior to this photo being taken, the flag was not noticeably unserviceable. Though multiple replacements are required per year in the region for anyone wanting to show support for the red-white-and-blue, the patriotism across Platte County has not dimmed. And there are locations for people to take their unserviceable flags to be retired in a respectable way. Photo by Lisa Phelps, Platte County Record-Times
WHEATLAND — Southeast Wyoming is known for its high winds, which typically peak and can continue for long periods of time throughout the winter.
Often the National Weather Service office in Cheyenne issues notices of high wind warnings with sustained 30 – 40 mph and gusts of 65-plus.
The NWS notices sometimes say, “sustained wind speeds of at least 40 mph or gusts of 58 mph or stronger can lead to property damage.”
Locals traveling along I-25 during or after these sustained high winds have come to anticipate semi-truck rollovers along the interstate corridor. They have also come to expect to replace a few flags.
“We just got new flags last week, and already the Wyoming flag is tattered,” Platte County Chamber of Commerce CEO Tresha Cancino said during a commissioner’s meeting last week.
She said the chamber had purchased high quality flags that are supposed to be re-reinforced.
The Town of Guernsey Mayor Ed Delgado confirmed the town orders between 20 to 25 flags (sometimes with a bulk discount) per year for the six locations throughout the town where it flies flags. Some years the town replaces more flags than other years, but it can count on replacing a few annually in each location.
“The wind is tough on flags everywhere. We buy heavy duty flags, but they still tear up in the wind,” Delgado said, adding his crew works to replace any flags that are looking tattered.
Wheatland Police Department took the opportunity of a fairly calm Tuesday morning last week to replace its tattered flags. WPD administrative assistant Traci Swingle said the department has replaced the flags three times already since the first of the year.
Because the summer months are not quite as windy, changeouts are less frequent then, but come fall and winter, the flags get battered in the windy weather.
In accordance with national flag code, those tattered and torn flags are not to be thrown away like common garbage, but since they represent the nation (or state), they are to be “destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning.”
The Wheatland Police Department has a receptacle to collect unserviceable flags so they can be properly disposed of in a dignified ceremony at a later time.
For more information or to drop off an old flag, call 322-2141 or stop by the WPD at 951 Water Street in Wheatland. In Guernsey, the VFW Post 4471 collects the unserviceable flags.
For more information about proper flag disposal or receptacles, contact a local VFW post or auxiliary member.
This story was published on March 26, 2025.