This is a fitting tribute to both Tommy's memory and the support that he received from his wife. The phrase "Behind every great man there is a great woman" was never as accurate as it was in this case.
The Chairman announced this today on the official site and also hinted that the unfurling of the flag will no longer be the sole preserve of the Chairman; stating that it will be an honour that will be passed onto life-long supporters or those who raise large funds for Charity.
The good Doctor said "It shouldn't always go on rank and the status thing. It's the man and woman who are the gold underneath the stamp. This should be a symbol of our thanks to someone and within a few days of us winning the league this year, I phoned and spoke to Rosemary Burns. I said it would be an honour, in the board's view, if she would agree to unfurl the flag for us.
"It's in memory of the fact that she was part of the Celtic family and stood together with Tommy in everything that he gave to this club. It's a small way of recognising that.
"I hope that this starts a tradition whereby we can bestow such an honour to the great contributors to this club. Some of them don't have great names or great status. It might be a long-serving supporter or somebody who has overcome great disability, or someone who has raised a lot of money for the Charity Fund.
"It's not just the great and the good who will get this honour. I hope the board will be able to consult with the supporters, associations and others, and every year we can give the honour to someone. It also means that we need to keep winning the league every year, and that's another good reason for that."
"It's the occasion that we all want every season. The highest element of the season is when you raise that emblem of the champions. For the third year running, it's going to be raised above Celtic Park - the home of the SPL champions and the club that's leading Scotland into Europe once again.
"It's a huge day for all of us and, incidentally, there's something that I promised myself when I became Chairman. Every Chairman sets their own traditions, and that's not to say the traditions of the past were wrong.
"But I recall when I was a much smaller lad standing on the terraces of Celtic Park on the day the flag was unfurled. A car, I think it was a Rolls Royce, would come on to the pitch and someone I'd never seen before, the Chairman, would get out, unfurl the flag, and drive away again.
"When I became Chairman, I said I wasn't going to do that. I think you should use the unfurling of the league flag to bestow an honour on someone the club wants to recognise and thank - not automatically just the Chairman. It might occasionally be the Chairman, because we've had great Chairmen in the past and I have nothing against their traditions.
I for one think this is a great move, and should be followed up by the renaming of the Celtic Training Facility in Tommy's name. This should be a no-brainer since the facility would not be there without Tommy's constant campaigning and haranguing of the Club to build it.
Yours in Celtic
Clydebuilt