Half-Staff Authorities

[Passions Call]

Quick question to the knowledgeable folks here. Who might have the jurisdiction to order flags flown at half staff or a proclamation to do that during the month of April which is Abortion Recovery Month for the aborted Americans? Just fact finding. I've already contacted Governors and the President. Am I missing anyone crucial? Thanks.

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi,

The general question of who has the authority to direct that the flag be half-staffed has been discussed in several threads here, including this one:

who can order the flag half mast

In a nutshell, the President can direct half-staffing by proclamation, and has also delegated authority to the indivdual department secretaries to do so. State and territorial governors can also direct half staffing for certain specific reasons (death of state officials or servicemembers from that state). Strictly speaking, these directives only apply to government agencies, although the proclamations usually encourage private citizens to follow them as well.

Peter Ansoff

[0311SGT]

If the Gov in South Carolina orders the Flag to Half Staff from sun up to sun down, do the other states have follow suite? Or do the other states do it out of respect?

[Robin Hickman]

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Hello, 0311SGT! Welcome to the USA-Flag-Site Forums!


QUOTE : "If the Gov in South Carolina orders the Flag to Half Staff from sun up to sun down, do the other states have follow suite? Or do the other states do it out of respect?"


No. As with ALL other things that are "state governoring related", each State Governor has only the authority to order Flags at their State's buildings & facilities in their State with the power loaned to them by that State's voters.

If the Governors of neighboring States choose to order the flags at their State's buildings and facilities to be flown at half-staff in sympathy or solidarity with the original "half-staff" State, then that's at their own discretion and only in their own State.

Hope that helps!


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



Robin Hickman
Eugene, Oregon, USA
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[0311SGT]

thank you for the quick response. Yes that does answer my question. again thank you

[NAVA1974]

. As with ALL other things that are "state governoring related", each State Governor has only the authority to order Flags at their State's buildings & facilities in their State with the power loaned to them by that State's voters. .

Furthermore, US Government facilities (Post offices, military installations, federal courthouses, etc.) within that state are not bound by the Governor's proclamation.

[Peter Ansoff]

. . . US Government facilities (Post offices, military installations, federal courthouses, etc.) within that state are not bound by the Governor's proclamation.

Actually, that's not quite true. As amended in 2007, the flag code says:

"When the Governor of a State, territory or possession, or the Mayor of the District of Columbia, issues a proclamation under the preceding sentence [i.e., for the death of a service member from that state] 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."

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this is a bit strange. As I read it, the mayor of DC can (indirectly) order that the flag on the White House be flown at half-staff for the death of a DC service member.

Peter A.

[NAVA1974]

Actually, that's not quite true. As amended in 2007, the flag code says...

Peter,

Thanks for bringing me up to date on that!

Nick