At 150 feet long — or 15 stories, which would drape it over downtown Ogden’s tallest buildings — the flag took a beating in a storm this week that has ended its Coldwater Canyon service.
Thursday a large group of volunteers carried the 400-pound flag, nicknamed “The Major,” down the canyon.
It first flew in 2019 to honor the city’s fallen hero. Major Brent Taylor was beginning his second term as North Ogden’s mayor in 2018 when he was called by his Utah Army National Guard unit to serve in Afghanistan, where he was fatally shot on Nov. 3 of that year.
The Honor the Hero Foundation and the Major Brent Taylor Foundation, a veteran’s advocate group established by his widow Jennie, have been caretakers of the mammoth flag.
“Lots of mixed emotions overnight and this morning,” Jennie Taylor said online Wednesday. “I turned off the spotlight that shines on ‘The Major’ this morning—for the last time.”
The flag measures 78’ by 150’ and each year it sustains a certain degree of damage, she said, and each year it needs to be repaired. “We’re grateful we’ve been able to fly this flag six years in a row, beginning in 2019 with the one-year anniversary of the death of my husband … and we’re thankful for the Honor the Hero team for keeping such a close eye on the flag “
On its Facebook page, the Honor the Hero Foundation said a drone was used to check the flag’s condition after a Tuesday storm and found the damage severe enough to warrant its retirement per standard flag etiquette. “While ‘The Major’ will not fly in the canyon again, it will still be used in static displays such as parades, rodeos and football games.”
The various organizations will be leading fund-raising campaigns for a new flag, estimated cost $15,000, for Coldwater Canyon to fly in time for Veterans Day 2025.
