Flags @ Half Staff

[www.tclp.org]

Does your web site e-mail your members on the days to lower Flags to half staff? Thanks Traverse City Light & Power | Public Power for Traverse City, Michigan)

[Robin Hickman]

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Hello, Traverse City (Michigan) Light & Power - TCLP.org !!!

Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums !!!


QUOTE : "Does your web site e-mail your members on the days to lower Flags to half staff? Thanks"


Speaking merely as a member of these Forums and NOT as an Administrator or Owner, the answer is no, we do not offer e-mail notification of either Federal, State, or Local "Half-Staff Days".

However, there ARE a number of on-line commercial Flag retail outlets that DO offer e-mail notification of FEDERAL "Half-Staff" days.

For STATE "Half-Staff Days", you would need to contact your state Governor's office to see if they, or another state office, offer e-mail notifications.

For Local "Half-Staff Days" e-mail notifications, contact the appropriate local governments (County, City, townships, etc.).

While there are "official" limitations on who can designate "Half-Staff Days" (ie. the President and State Governors), those limitations are generally unknown and usually ignored. Anybody at any time can fly their own U.S. Flag at Half-Staff for their own reasons.


The "official" rules & regulations regarding when to fly The Flag at Half-Staff are contained in the United States Code, Title 4, Chapter 1. This is better known as "The Flag Code".

An on-line copy of the Flag Code can be found HERE : http://www.usa-flag-site.org/etiquette-display.shtml.

The pertinent "Half-Staff" passages are contained in Section 7, sub-section M. (at least that is what I think they are called.)

§7. Position and manner of display

m. The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States, or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia. The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this subsection —

1. the term "half-staff" means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
2. the term "executive or military department" means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and
3. the term "Member of Congress" means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.

NOTE : Peace Officers Memorial Day is May 15th. Armed Forces Day is the 3rd Saturday in May.

ADDITIONAL NOTE : Although not currently listed in the U.S. Flag Code, September 11th of each year is designated (Federally) as "Patriot Day", and by Presidential Proclamation, Patriot Day is a "Half-Staff" day. The Presidential Proclamation has usually been issued approximately one week before Patriot Day.

I'll see if I can find a few of the on-line Flag retailers that offer Half-Staff" e-mail notification service, and post links to them here.


Thank You for bringing your Flag-related question to our Forums !!!


Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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[Robin Hickman]

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Hello, Again!


Here are but a FEW places where you can sign up for "Half-Staff" e-mail notifications. These were found using a quick Google search for "Half-staff notifications and picking some of the first ones. There were over 250,000 pages returned in the search!

I'm just putting these links here as I found them. NONE of them should be seen as an endorsement by me or this website!!!


http://www.google.com/search?q=Half-Staff+notification&hl=en&num=100&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe =off&tbs=

http://www.aflag.com/

http://halfstaff.org/

http://www.apexflags.com/halfstaff.html

http://www.flagsexpress.com/half_staff/half_staff2.html

http://www.legion.org/flag/notification


NOTE : There are many, many other sites that offer "Half-Staff" notification services!


Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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[Robin Hickman]

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Hey, TCLP.org !!!


Have you folks thought about LINKING to this website, USA-Flag-Site.org, as a patriotic service to your customers and visitors???


Just a thought.....

Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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[Conquistador]

A resident's family has asked that we fly our flag at half mast for a recently deceased family member that was a veteran. Is this permissable?

[NAVA1974]

A resident's family has asked that we fly our flag at half mast for a recently deceased family member that was a veteran. Is this permissible?

That depends on whose permission you are asking. If you consult the United States Flag Code, the answer is "no". Only select individuals have the right to order flags to be flown at half-staff.

If you really want to honor that veteran and his/her family, you may lower your flag to half-staff as the Flag Code is not enforceable and carries no penalties. In fact, you can go ahead and burn the flag and the Supreme Court will uphold your right to do so. However, if you want to follow the established guidance, you should fly the flag at full-staff.

Here is the relevant text of the Flag Code:
The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day. On Memorial Day the flag should be displayed at half-staff until noon only, then raised to the top of the staff. By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory. In the event of the death of other officials or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to Presidential instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory, or possession of the United States or the death of a member of the Armed Forces from any State, territory, or possession who dies while serving on active duty, the Governor of that State, territory, or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff, and the same authority is provided to the Mayor of the District of Columbia with respect to present or former officials of the District of Columbia and members of the Armed Forces from the District of Columbia. When the Governor of a State, territory, or possession, or the Mayor of the District of Columbia, issues a proclamation under the preceding sentence that the National flag be flown at half-staff in that State, territory, or possession or in the District of Columbia because of the death of a member of the Armed Forces, the National flag flown at any Federal installation or facility in the area covered by that proclamation shall be flown at half-staff consistent with that proclamation. The flag shall be flown at half-staff 30 days from the death of the President or a former President; 10 days from the day of death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice of the United States, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives; from the day of death until interment of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a Secretary of an executive or military department, a former Vice President, or the Governor of a State, territory, or possession; and on the day of death and the following day for a Member of Congress. The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day. As used in this subsection— (1) the term “half-staff” means the position of the flag when it is one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff;
(2) the term “executive or military department” means any agency listed under sections 101 and 102 of title 5, United States Code; and
(3) the term “Member of Congress” means a Senator, a Representative, a Delegate, or the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico.

Nick A
Columbia Maryland

[flagnazi]

Half-mast, half-staff. It was my understanding that half-mast meant only having to lower the flag one width (hoist) of the flag, not really a full half pole. Perhaps it is incorrect for me to use the same definition for half staff. I realize that half staff is land based and half mast is sea based. Can they be used interchangeably? The half-staff becomes an issue is there is a second flag flying below the National Colors thus I like the one hoist height down. Comment or discuss. Thanks Mike

[Peter Ansoff]

This subject was previously discussed in this thread:

Half-Mast/Half-Mass/Half-Staff

The bottom line is that the terms "half staff" and "half mast" are interchangeable and mean the same thing.

Peter Ansoff

[NAVA1974]

It was my understanding that half-mast meant only having to lower the flag one width (hoist) of the flag, not really a full half pole.... Comment or discuss. Thanks Mike

In "Flags Through the Ages and Across the World" (Whitney Smith, 1975) it says that the half-staffing/masting of a flag represents "death's invisible flag" flying above the national flag. This corroborates your statement that the flag should only be lowered a distance equal to the width of the flag. I think that distance is quite satisfactory.

Nick A
Columbia Maryland

[Peter Ansoff]

With all due respect to our good friend Whitney, I suspect that the "invisible flag of death" is an after-the-fact explanation for an already-existing custom. I explained my reasoning a while back, in a post in this thread:

4 Places US Flag Never Flown at Half Mast

Having said that, though, I agree with Nick that the definition of half-staff in the flag code ("one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff") is not always appropriate. It looks especially odd on a tall pole.

Peter Ansoff