Conducted by the Scottish American Military Society

• Have you ever wondered what the proper etiquette is for retiring our nation’s flag?
   

• Do you have a United States flag that is old and torn, but you don’t want to just throw it in the trash?
   

• You are invited to bring your old and torn National flags to the S.A.M.S. U.S. Flag Retirement Ceremony at Rural Hill to be retired with dignity.

American Flag Retirement Ceremony 

While burial of an American flag could be considered honorable it is not the proper means of showing respect to our national emblem. The proper method of destroying a flag is by burning it in a dignified ceremony.

Each year the Colonel Patrick Ferguson Post 1775 comes to Rural Hill to perform this important community service by collecting and overseeing the proper disposal of old, worn, tattered, frayed and/or faded American flags.

We invite you to join us in this ceremony of honor and patriotism. You can learn more about flag etiquette in this moving tribute to the symbol of our American fortitude and perseverance.

This event is open to the general public and there is no admission charge.

The Scottish American Military Society, Ltd.

Colonel Patrick Ferguson Post #1775

The Scottish American Military Society, Ltd., called SAMS, was founded in North Carolina on April 12, 1981 as a nonprofit veterans organization to preserve and promote Scottish and American Armed Forces customs, traditions and heritage.

The Membership is composed of veterans of Scottish ancestry who have served, or are serving in the Armed Forces of the United States, Armed Service Academy and college level ROTC Cadets, spouses, widows or widowers of any of the above categories and members of the British Commonwealth Armed Forces. Honorary Life Memberships are awarded to members who have been awarded the Medal of Honor or the Victoria Cross.

The Post in Charlotte, North Carolina is named in honor of Lt. Col. Patrick Ferguson, a Highland Scot and the commander of the Loyalist forces at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Ferguson was the inventor of the Ferguson Rifle, the first breech-loading rifle. In trials made before King George III, in its inventor's hands, the weapon fired 4-5 shots a minute at a target 200 yards away and it fired after water had been poured down the barrel. What's more, it could be loaded and fired from a prone or laying down position, virtually impossible with other weapons of the day. Fortunately for the Americans it was simply too great a departure from tradition for conservative English military minds to accept.

The Post number #1775 was chosen to remember the courage and sacrifice of the Carolina Scots who signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence on May 20, 1775.

The Crest Badge of S.A.M.S.

The crest is the belt and buckle badge surrounding the back country rifleman, wearing a hunting frock shirt and armed with his flintlock rifle and belt axe.

The crest signifies allegiance to the principal that liberty has been won and has been preserved by armed forces. S.A.M.S. actively seeks new members in North and South Carolina.

The Scottish American Military Society (SAMS) Post 1775 also conducts a Flag Retirement Ceremony at the Loch Norman Highland Games.

For More Information About the Scottish American Military Society:

National Website

Colonel Ferguson Post 1775

Ed Toney, Commander 

13712 Kensal Green Drive

Charlotte, North Carolina 28278

celticat@bellsouth.net