Reveille and Retreat Ceremonies
At Ryan Elementary School, we conduct Reveille (flag-raising) and Retreat (flag-lowering) ceremonies every school day. In the United States, these ceremonies have a history dating back to the Continental Army and the ceremonies still play an active part of today's military. There are some videos below that demonstrate these different ceremonies, so you can see what they look like. You'll notice music is a key part of these details. Unfortunately, we don't use bugle calls during flag duty.

Flag troop members lower the Arizona flag during the retreat ceremony.

Reveille, in French, means wake up. Reveille is a bugle call that was adopted in the U.S. Army in 1812, and was used to muster troops for morning roll call and to signal the start of the day. As time passed, it also came to mark when the flag was going to be raised in the morning and honors paid to it. The National Anthem would follow Reveille, or another bugle call, To The Colors.

The Retreat ceremony signals the end of the work day and usually occurs around sunset. The Retreat bugle call, was first used in the French Army and traces its origin to the Middle Ages. After Retreat is played, either the National Anthem or To The Colors follows and the flag is lowered, folded and safely secured for the night.

In celebration of the Regiment's 121st birthday, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Horse Detachment, hosted a cavalry demonstration at Fritz Field, Fort Irwin, California.

I spent many years honoring the flag when I was in the Army, but I don't expect you all to be as spit and polish as I had to be. I do want you to remember this though, when you are performing flag duty, you are honoring those who served and continue to serve our nation, our state and our communities. Not just those in the military, Americans serve in many ways, including those who work at this school.

So carry their spirit in your heart when you go out for flag duty. Feel pride when you are in front of our Ryan Elementary community. You are special Royals doing a special job. Thank you for serving your school.

IMAGE: Royal Flag Troop Members. Ryan Calahate. OCT 2019.

IMAGE: 11th ACR Horse Detachment. PAO 11th ACR. 2 FEB 22.

IMAGE: American Flags. SSG Ken Scar. US Army Cadet Command. Clemson, SC. 10 NOV 2022.

Here's the History Behind 'Reveille'. Kirkpatrick, Tim. Military.com. 13 May 2020.