Half-staff/half-mast

[EmailPoster]

I came across your site tonight....

I came across your site tonight. I don't have any official sources to back
this up, but I believe it is normally called half-staff, unless it is aboard
a military ship, then it is called half-mast.



Chris

[sarahw]

Chris,

You're absolutely right. A mast is on a ship; everywhere else a flagpole is a staff. It's actually written into the U.S. Flag Code that way (talking about flags on land as being half-staff or full-staff). I really think this is a case where sloppy writing and speaking has gotten us all confused. Doesn't half-mast sound prettier? There's something more poetic about it, but it is, technically, inaccurate when talking about the flags on land.

Thanks for asking!

Sarah