A great many small details need be attended when one is charged with planning a loved one's final arrangements. Among these is ensuring that all the bereaved are able to find the interment site when memorial services are held at a different location. One way to do this is to use funeral flags and everyone travel as a group from one place to another.
The line of mourners traveling together from service's location to interment site is called a funerary procession. Though some groups and cultures do a slow, mournful walk to the grave side, it is more common to use vehicles in this day and age. The lead position is always given to the hearse, which bears the body or ashes of the one being honored.
The processional line up usually begins with the hearse, which transports the body or remains of the one being mourned. Then comes the limousine, or car that holds the deceased's spouse, parents, children or significant other. Next in order are immediate family members followed by all other vehicles carrying mourners.
Though many times funerary processions are granted a police escort to ensure the group travels uninterrupted, additional methods may also be used. Banners, normally supplied by the Home handling the arrangements, are a traditional way to identify those included in the group. There are several different styles available.
Sometimes, wide ribbons are stretched across the hood of each car, identifying the passengers as in mourning. More commonly used are banners flown from flexible plastic rods attached to an automobile's door window. These may also be found with a magnetic base designed to firmly adhere to the metal or vinyl outside of the vehicle.
Products of this type typically stand nearly a foot tall and use flexible staffs to prevent breakage from strong winds. The banners are usually about 6 x 9 inches which makes them easy to see. Color options may vary with some of the more common options being purple, white and orange, all with contrasting crosses centered on them.
