Act of Congress

[EmailPoster]

I heard years ago...

I heard years ago , something about a flag flown at half-staff needed app
roval by an act of congress, could this have been for flying it from the
capitol. No one i have talked to has ever heard of it. Could you help me
out.Thank you.

[sarahw]

Actually, the president and the governor are the ones who declare when flags should be flown at half-staff. The president calls for flags to be lowered nationwide, while the governor can have flags lowered in his or her own state when a local figure dies.

Flags are lowered as a sign of respect, usually when a current or former government official or other great individual dies. According to the United States code dealing with display of the flag, there are certain officials whose death is always marked by a lowering of the flag for a certain period of time, such as:

Current of former president, 30 days
Current or former vice president, chief justice of the United States or Speaker of the house, 10 days
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, Secretary of an executive or military department (cabinet members), or governor of a state or territory, from the time of death until burial
Members of Congress, day of death and following day

Other than that it is up to the president or the governor to instruct the nation how flags should be flown.

There are also two annual occasions when flags should be flown half-staff; Memorial Day and Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15). On Memorial Day, the flag should be raised all the way to the top of the pole then lowered to half-staff and kept there until noon. It can be raised for the rest of the day.

You should always raise the flag to the full height of the poll before lowering it to half-staff. You do not need to raise it again before lowering it to take the flag down for the night.

I hope this helps!

Sarah