WHEATLAND – Southeast Wyoming is known for its high winds, which typically peak and can be maintained 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 roll-overs along the interstate corridor. They have also come to expect to replace a few flags.
Platte County Chamber of Commerce CEO said during a commissioner’s meeting last week, “We just got new flags last week, and already the Wyoming flag is tattered.”
When questioned, she said they purchased the “good” flags that are supposed to be re-reinforced and all that jazz.

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 they have flags throughout the town. Some years the town has more to replace than other years, but you 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,” Mayor Delgado said, adding his crew works to replace any flags that are looking tattered. If anyone sees a flag that needs replaced in Guernsey, let them know at town hall.
Wheatland Police Department took the opportunity of a fairly calm Tuesday morning last week to replace their tattered flags.
WPD administrative assistant Traci Swingle said the department has replaced the flags three times already since the first of the year. The summer months are not quite so windy so changeouts are less frequent, 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 of 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. Contact a VFW post or auxiliary member, or bring the flags by during the monthly breakfast on the 4th Sunday of the month.