# Flag at half mast used to mean something **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 15, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833 "2011-03-15T20:59:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/21 "2011-03-17T17:28:45Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Nitpitck: Masts are on ships. On land, a flag flies from a staff, whether half or not. > > Does the law state that I will be declared an uncouth person? Somehow I doubt it. My personal opinion is that the flag code is a First Amendment violation. I suspect that if the Supreme Court ever got hold of the topic though they would either find that (1) A law with no mechanism for enforcement or consequences is not really much of anything, or (2) it’s like that ceremonial deism claptrap. The flag code is a “law” that carries no penalties. Pedantically this means it can be argued as a “law,” but it’s a “law” that doesn’t actually mandate or forbid anything. It’s purely symbolic. If it imposed any penalties on civilians, it would be unconstitutional. You may safely ignore the flag code. It’s your cloth, you can do whatever you want with it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/22 "2011-03-17T17:30:55Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > My flag is at half mast only if I’m drunk and can’t get it up. Best double entendre of the year. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/23 "2011-03-17T18:20:34Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > My flag is at half mast only if I’m drunk and can’t get it up. Whiskey flag? ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/24 "2011-03-17T18:44:13Z")
For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. It is only at half-mast if there is a mast, like on a boat. The former governor of this state had announced a policy that the flag on state buildings would be flown at half-staff when ever a state resident died in the armed forces. It was a forceful and frequent reminder of the cost of playing God. Weather the new guy will kept it up is unknown, given that he has rejected just about every thing his predecessor has done, probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/25 "2011-03-17T18:54:23Z")
Um … who’s playing god in this scenario? It has been my impression that anyone – including young boys in blue uniforms – was capable of changing the height of a flag. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/26 "2011-03-17T19:23:53Z")
Ascenray, you government and my government is playing God just as soon as it sends the nation’s armed forces off to enforce foreign policy objectives. Reminding the electorate that the cost of those decisions is paid in dead and mutilated soldiers, sailors, Marines and aircrews is, in my judgment, a good thing. Flying the national colors at half-staff is one way to bring that cost to the public’s attention and to honor the personal sacrifice even in a small way. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/27 "2011-03-17T19:29:53Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I periodically get annoyed at this, too. I call it the watering down of superlatives - like everyone getting a standing ovation no matter what they’ve done, or every woman who sings being called a diva. Hijack – one of the worst examples is “supermodel.” There used to be plenty of models, and only the uber ones whose names became household words and who eventually got to call the shots in their own careers or run media and fashion empires were called supermodels to distinguish them from the rest. now every single time a model’s career is mentioned, somebody or everybody calls her a supermodel, even when it turns out it’s some 17-year-old foreign chick who’s a complete unknown and was hired a month ago, and no one offstage has ever heard her speak. Supermodel isn’t a profession any more than “all-star” is or “Ph. D.” is. It’s a superlative form of the word model. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/28 "2011-03-17T19:32:26Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Then there’s the supermarket down the street that always flies the flag at 3/4 staff. Am I missing something here? Are there staffs that don’t go to the top? Possibly the person who runs the flag up doesn’t realize that you need to keep pulling until you hear it clank against the top of the flagpole, as opposed to just eyeballing it. Once in my misspent youth, I made this mistake at Girl Scout camp and accidentally only raised the flag to 3/4 staff. Edit: Although this doesn’t explain why they wouldn’t notice it throughout the day…every day… look, nevermind. I just wanted to share my Girl Scout story, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/29 "2011-03-17T20:30:40Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. It is only at half-mast if there is a mast, like on a boat. OK, OK, if you insist. My flag is at half-staff if my employees are half-assed and 50% of them miss work. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/30 "2011-03-17T20:49:33Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > A great many fire stations flew half-staff on [June 22, 2007](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charleston_Sofa_Super_Store_fire), for example, and I found it entirely appropriate and moving. And it is for reasons like this that I am annoyed at the implication that the meaning is “diminished” by honoring people who are “less important” than ex-presidents. ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/31 "2011-03-17T21:12:42Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. It is only at half-mast if there is a mast, like on a boat. Oh for christ’s sake, enough with this pedantry already. > **[half-mast](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/half-mast)** > > Definition, Synonyms, Translations of half-mast by The Free Dictionary [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/half-mast](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/half-mast) > **[Definition of HALF-MAST](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-mast)** > > a point some distance but not necessarily halfway down below the top of a mast or staff or the peak of a gaff… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/32 "2011-03-17T21:24:28Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Hijack – one of the worst examples is “supermodel.” There used to be plenty of models, and only the uber ones whose names became household words and who eventually got to call the shots in their own careers or run media and fashion empires were called supermodels to distinguish them from the rest. > > now every single time a model’s career is mentioned, somebody or everybody calls her a supermodel, even when it turns out it’s some 17-year-old foreign chick who’s a complete unknown and was hired a month ago, and no one offstage has ever heard her speak. > > Supermodel isn’t a profession any more than “all-star” is or “Ph. D.” is. It’s a superlative form of the word model. A similar example: “porn star.” ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/33 "2011-03-17T22:08:36Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > Oh for christ’s sake, enough with this pedantry already. > > [Half-mast - definition of half-mast by The Free Dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/half-mast) > > [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/half-mast](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/half-mast) > > [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-mast](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/half-mast) Thank you. Maybe now the pedantic nitwits will kindly stick a sock in it. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/34 "2011-03-17T22:10:32Z")
> [@fubbleskag](#): > > Oh for christ’s sake, enough with this pedantry already. One man’s pedantry is another man’s precision in language. Don’t get me started on the decimation-devastation thing. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/35 "2011-03-17T22:25:13Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Possibly the person who runs the flag up doesn’t realize that you need to keep pulling until you hear it clank against the top of the flagpole, as opposed to just eyeballing it. Once in my misspent youth, I made this mistake at Girl Scout camp and accidentally only raised the flag to 3/4 staff. > > Edit: Although this doesn’t explain why they wouldn’t notice it throughout the day…every day… look, nevermind. I just wanted to share my Girl Scout story, OK? It could be that the mechanism to raise the flag is broken (assuming it’s not raised by hand) and only goes that high. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/36 "2011-03-17T22:30:26Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > One man’s pedantry is another man’s precision in language. > > Don’t get me started on the decimation-devastation thing. Common usage always trumps the dictionary. Half-mast is precisely correct. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/37 "2011-03-17T22:49:54Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Did you also tie an onion to your belt? It was the style at the time. They didn’t have white onions, because of the war. The only think you could get were those big yellow ones. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/38 "2011-03-17T22:51:44Z")
> [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. It is only at half-mast if there is a mast, like on a boat. > > The former governor of this state had announced a policy that the flag on state buildings would be flown at half-staff when ever a state resident died in the armed forces. It was a forceful and frequent reminder of the cost of playing God. Weather the new guy will kept it up is unknown, given that he has rejected just about every thing his predecessor has done, probably not. IIRC you’re not supposed to fly the flag if it’s raining. And there _are_ pills that will help him kept it up. 😉 CMC fnord! **Gaudere** ’s Law claims another victim. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/39 "2011-03-18T00:42:26Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > \ > I always thought diva = singer + bitch. So Mariah Carey and Celine Dion are divas, Dolly Parton, never a diva, always a “singer”. In my opinion, diva used to mean someone who was so talented that their highly-demanding personalities were worth the trouble. > [@Spavined\_Gelding](#): > > For the last time you bunch of freaking illiterates: the flag is a HALF-STAFF. \ Hey, I know who both my mommy AND my daddy are. > [@Sailboat](#): > > Hijack – one of the worst examples is “supermodel.” There used to be plenty of models, and only the uber ones whose names became household words and who eventually got to call the shots in their own careers or run media and fashion empires were called supermodels to distinguish them from the rest. > > now every single time a model’s career is mentioned, somebody or everybody calls her a supermodel, even when it turns out it’s some 17-year-old foreign chick who’s a complete unknown and was hired a month ago, and no one offstage has ever heard her speak. > > Supermodel isn’t a profession any more than “all-star” is or “Ph. D.” is. It’s a superlative form of the word model. That is an excellent example. > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > A similar example: “porn star.” Another good example; a whole lot of people are just fucking on film. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833/40 "2011-03-18T01:23:29Z")
Back to appropriate management of the U.S. flag: Does anyone know how one person is supposed to take down and fold a flag? I know how two or four people quarter and tri-fold one, but many, even non-official size, are too large for one person to fold without scrunching it up or let some part of it hit the ground. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flag-at-half-mast-used-to-mean-something/574833.md?page=3)