I was recently told by a freind that if you have a son serving in a war zone you are supposed to fly your flag at half staff. I would liketo know because I have two sons serving in Iraq and certainly want to honor them

[Peter Ansoff]

Hi, Geri!

I was recently told by a freind that if you have a son serving in a war zone you are supposed to fly your flag at half staff.

Your friend is confused. Flying a flag at half-staff is a universal symbol of mourning -- we fervently hope that it will never apply to you!

Your friend may have been thinking about the "blue star" flags that have, since 1917, been the classic way to show family pride in a serviceman. Grantham University has a special program to offer free blue-star flags to service members, veterans and families. More details are available here:

Free Blue Star Flag | Grantham University

Since you have two sons in the military, you are entitled to display a flag with two blue stars. I'm not sure that the Grantham program provides those -- if not, you can buy one here:

www.ServiceFlags.com homepage - #1 Source for Service Flags

at a fairly reasonable price.

Best regards,

Peter Ansoff

Thank you for the information. I have ordered the blue stars flag that will honor my boys

[Peter Ansoff]

I have ordered the blue stars flag that will honor my boys

Great -- glad to help! When you receive it, could you take a photo and post it here?

Peter Ansoff

Question :

Was the flag ever flown at half-staff during war time?

roynnbarb

[Peter Ansoff]

Was the flag ever flown at half-staff during war time?

Yes. The custom half-staffing the flag for the death of a prominent person is observed in wartime as well as peacetime. A well-known example was the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in April 1945.

The paragraph of the flag code dealing with half-staffing makes no special provisions for wartime. Of course, the USA has not been officially "at war" since the end of World War II.

Peter Ansoff