Chalk it up to the time of year or credit a passion for patriotism but self-diagnosed flag fever has led Susan Clack to take action against tattered and faded displays of Old Glory.

Twice in recent weeks, the Daughters of the American Revolution regent has targeted threadbare flags flying in the Santa Maria Valley.

“This is me going off my rocker recently. This is a kind of a new behavior for me,” she said.

While laughing after the fact at her bold action, the topic of flag etiquette is quite serious.

She first decided to take a proactive approach once she saw a faded flag flying outside a house in Orcutt. She stopped, talked to the homeowners who already had purchased the replacement but hadn't installed it yet.

“I guess it emboldened me to try it again,” she said.

This time, she stormed Iversen Motor Company on Broadway, on a mission of patriotism after seeing the faded and tattered flag while sitting in her car in a nearby parking lot.

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At Iversen, she gave her DAR business card - her “flag police badge,” she said - and pointed out the problem.

Clack learned the business had just purchased a replacement, which she urged they install immediately and offered to deal with the old flag. She agreed to help raise the replacement.

“They were very, very kind,” she said, laughing about the impression she likely made on the unsuspecting employees.

From it's high-profile location on South Broadway, between Carmen Lane and Inger Drive, the auto dealer has displayed the huge flag for years, according to business manager Wiggins Lambert.

“It's the biggest one they make,” he said, adding the flag has flown for the 20 years he has worked for the auto dealer.

Clack's mission Wednesday came at a fortuitous time. The DAR's Capt. Henry Sweetser Chapter will hold its annual flag retirement ceremony during their June meeting today.

“This year it just happens to be on Flag Day,” she said.

Members collect flags throughout the year for the ceremony to retire, not dispose of, the banners.

“The flag is something that should be honorably retired,” she said.

The DAR - members are grounded in history, education and patriotism - is one of several groups that regularly hold ceremonies to retire flags seemed “unserviceable.”

It's a condition that than can quickly creep up on a flag owner, as Clack knows all to well.

One day her husband asked about the flag displayed at their house: “Don't you think it's a little faded.”

“It does kind of sneak up on you,” she said. “The tatters - that's pretty obvious. The fading does sneak up on you.”

Outdoor flags in the Santa Maria Valley must cope with a hostile environment.

“The wind here is just brutal on flags,” she said.

Iversen replaces its flags a few times a year, according to Lambert, who added the manufacturer claims it's the best.

“They need to test them in Santa Maria,” he said. “Evidently where they're testing it, there's no wind.”

Still, the business won't forsake the flag display.

“We're just proud to be Americans,” he added.

About Flag Day

See a lot of flags flying today? That's because June 14 is Flag Day, the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777. On that day, John Adams spoke about the flag at a meeting of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, where the nation's founding fathers declared the flag should have 13 stripes,

alternating red and white, and 13 white stars on a blue background. Stars have been added as new states joined the union.

President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 issued a presidential proclamation of Flag Day. While assorted communities marked the day with celebrations of the flag, in 1949 President Harry S. Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 as National Flag Day.

Janene Scully can be reached at 739-2214 or janscully@santa

mariatimes.com.