Military Heraldry and Flags at a Memorial

So there I was, just killing a little time in the wilds of Utah, waiting for the time for a memorial service to begin, and I thought I would drive around a bit to see what I could see.

Well, wouldn't you know it? One of the things to see that I ran across was the Orem City Cemetery. Now, in addition to being a heraldist, I am also a genealogist, so there was kind of a draw for me.

And as I was driving through the cemetery, I noticed a bunch of flags, which proved to be part of a veterans memorial there.

And here's an overview of the aforementioned flags.

Right in the center, from front to back, we have the flags of the United States Coast Guard, the United States Air Force, and the United States Navy. (And behind the pole on the right, the U.S. Marine Corps.)

And in this next photo, front to back and then left to right, the U.S. Merchant Marine, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, and (harder to make out, but I couldn't get the wind to cooperate fully for me) the U.S. Army.

Finally, we have the flag of the U.S. Space Force, with the upper hoist corner of the POW-MIA flag in the lower right corner.

This is not to imply that all of these flags are truly heraldic. Indeed, the only one that could be said to be truly heraldic is the one with the coat of arms of the U.S. Air Force. Most of the rest display what are more like badges (e.g., the U.S. Marine Corps)* or even logos. Still, they are certainly heraldry-adjacent, and I have photographed all of these emblems before in various places (for example, on the capitol building grounds in Raleigh, North Carolina), and will no doubt continue to do so in the future as I see them.

* MAD Magazine way back in the 1960s (well, I'm certainly dating myself with that reference!) did some parodies of the service songs of the branches of the U.S. armed forces. (Well, not the Space Force, which was not in existence back then.) I had a little fun on this trip singing their version of The Marines Hymn to my former Marine nephew who was there. The tune remains the same; only the words have been changed to make it more "realistic."

From the neck high mud of fo-oxholes

To malaria-filled bogs,

We will march for ninety miles a day

And drop out and die like dogs.

We will land on mine-strewn be-eaches

And we'll live with snakes and fleas;

Then we'll all leave Parris Island** for

Restful combat overseas.

** Parris Island, a district in the city of Port Royal, South Carolina, has been the site of Marine Corps recruit training since 1915.