Elks Lodge annual Flag Day ceremony

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - In honor of Flag Day, the local Elks Lodge #476 hosted a Flag Day ceremony.

The celebration is meant to honor all current and former flags in US history, while also having a deeper meaning as well.

“To me it means opportunity and freedom,” said Jim Thompson the Exulted Ruler at the local Elks Lodge.

Local boy scouts introduced the flags to begin the ceremony.

The exulted ruler of the local lodge shares why they honor all former flags as well.

“Since the beginning of times peoples served for either a flag that represented them in battle even back in the medieval times there was always a flag,” said Thompson.

The ceremony saw speeches from the local lodge members as well as the Yuma Company of the Arizona Rangers.

One of the rangers was able to share what the flag means to him.

“It’s not just the symbol of freedom its that piece of cloth that many a men have given their lives for," said Hernel Atkin, the Company Commander of Yuma Company of the Arizona Rangers.

Jim Thompson also explains why the organization celebrates flag day every year.

“We’re a patriotic organization we always have been you know God, country, family, that’s what we serve that’s what we want to be,” said Thompson.

The lodge has undergone this tradition for over the past 100 years and plan to continue this century long tradition well into the future.