Commissioner David Loveall presents the 13 folds of the flag

Presenter: The chair of the Lane County Board of Commissioners presents the folds of the flag. With brief comments at the beginning of each meeting, he began June 24 and completed Aug. 26. Commissioner David Loveall:

David Loveall (Lane County, commissioner): It’s Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Just went to a funeral this last week and thought about how our flag was folded. It’s done 13 times, each having a specific meaning of honor, values and tribute to those who served our nation.

[00:00:27] Today I’ll highlight the first three as we wind up the month where Flag Day was celebrated.

[00:00:31] The first fold symbolizes life. The second fold symbolizes the belief in eternal life and the third honors and pays tribute to the veterans who gave their lives for this country.

[00:00:42] It’s Tuesday, July 8, 2025. Last meeting I had mentioned the significance of our flag being folded 13 times for memorials and for sunset taps and I’d like to remind us the reasons. Four, five, and six are the nation’s citizens’ trust in God as reason number four; the fifth acknowledges the country; and the sixth symbolizes where our collective hearts lie as we pledge allegiance to the values of our country that we’ve established.

[00:01:08] Welcome to our regular meeting for Tuesday, July 22, 2025. And for the last few meetings, we’ve been paying homage to our flag, the significance of 13 folds and we fold our flag for different services and I’d like to highlight the folds seven and eight and nine.

[00:01:24] Seven pays tribute to the armed forces, fold number eight honors mothers, and the ninth fold honors womanhood. So I think those are very significant things to honor today as we remember our flag as well.

[00:01:35] It’s Tuesday, July 29, 2025. Our flag folding, we’re going through our flag folds as an inspirational moment. There’s 13 folds, each representing an important sentiment and inspiration as we hold our country in high regard. Folds 10 and 11, fold 10 pays tribute to the fathers for he too has given sons and daughters for the defense of country, and fold 11, in the eyes of the Hebrew citizens, represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in their eyes the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And those are the 10th and the 11th folds of our flag.

[00:02:09] Today’s Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. Last week, as our inspiration, was one of the great American heroes had passed—astronaut Jim Lovell, who dared and dreamed to lead others to places few of us could even imagine.

[00:02:20] Lovell for a long time was the single most daring person who reached into the darkness of space than any person on the planet. His thirst for risk and adventure and leadership paved the way for others to follow in the program that we now have, our space program. He had the grit and greatness and the desire to bring as many with him as he could, and he was a great leader in our country.

[00:02:39] And during the nailbiter of Apollo 13, his mother was quoted as saying that if anyone could get his astronauts home, it was her Jimmy, because he could fly a washing machine from the moon and get his people back. So I thought that was a really great quote from his mother. Jim Lovell was 97. A true American hero.

[00:02:59] Today is Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. Recently, we’ve been going through a series of flag folding meanings and we’re down to the last two folds of our flag, folds 13 and 12. Twelve is the tribute to eternity. Time will go on and we will go forth with it. And the 13th fold of our flag, as it’s finalized when the flag is folded, the stars face upward, is a reminder of our national motto which is also printed on all of our money, ‘In God we trust.’

[00:03:26] Presenter: Commissioner David Loveall shares the meaning behind the 13 folds of the flag, which appears at the website of the National Flag Foundation. His statements introduced commissioners’ meetings from the end of June to the end of August.

Image courtesy Official Navy Page from United States of America. SN Andrew B. Church/U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.