# Flying of US flag at half-staff **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 29, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759 "2004-06-29T20:20:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RabidChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d26b3c/32.png) [@RabidChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RabidChild)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/1 "2004-06-29T20:20:57Z")
So, Reagan croaks and G.W. proclaims to all that we should fly our flags at half-staff for THIRTY DAYS! I’m a Reagan fan, but frankly, that seems a bit excessive. So my question is … is 30 days an unusually long period of time for this type of remembrance? How long were flags at half-staff for 9/11? Nixon’s passing? Kennedy’s passing? ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/2 "2004-06-29T20:27:54Z")
It is not unusually long. In fact, the US Flag Code specifies that the flag is flown at half-staff for 30 days for _any_ President or former president. Whether this is “excessively” long is left as an exercise for the reader. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/3 "2004-06-29T20:47:31Z")
It should also be noted that the flag code and Bush’s proclamation apply only to Federal government offices. Individuals, businesses, and even state and local governments are free to display the flag at half staff or not during those 30 days. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/4 "2004-06-29T21:00:12Z")
I didn’t realize that there was a standard for presidential passing half-staff periods (thanks, pbw). I remembered that it was 30 days for JFK, and I thought (without a shred of partisanship :rolleyes: ) that it didn’t seem appropriate that JFK and Reagan should get the same treatment. I suppose it’s just as well that there’s a standard, so that the process isn’t politicized–ie, the current administration thought the dear departed Ex was a horse’s ass, and orders flags at full staff the day after the funeral. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RabidChild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d26b3c/32.png) [@RabidChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RabidChild)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/5 "2004-06-29T21:26:29Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I suppose it’s just as well that there’s a standard I agree - I’m relieved to see that a standard exists. This issue arose when my spouse noted that the current memorial period of 30 days seemed excessive, given that the flag was at half staff for less than two weeks following September 11 when ~3000 people died. I was also curious if Nixon was treated in the same manner as the other “dead presidents”, given the whole “impeachment” thing, and all… ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/6 "2004-06-29T22:46:51Z")
Nixon might have been an exception, since he didn’t have a State funeral. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/7 "2004-06-30T01:21:38Z")
Truman didn’t have a state funeral, nor did Eisenhower. Johnson did, and Nixon’s family, IIRC, requested there NOT be one. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/8 "2004-06-30T01:24:50Z")
Just for those who wish to know… To put a flag at half-staff when you raise it…you take it to the top and bring it down. You don’t just go halfway up and stop. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/9 "2004-06-30T01:27:10Z")
Clinton ordered all flags on Federal buildings to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Nixon’s passing. He issued the order on April 23, 1994 (LA Times, A1) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/10 "2004-06-30T03:47:36Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > Clinton ordered all flags on Federal buildings to be lowered to half-staff in honor of Nixon’s passing. > He issued the order on April 23, 1994 (LA Times, A1) …and it was the full 30 days. Were it up to me I’d shorten it for non-sitting presidents, as a whole month seems like too much no matter who; but yes, it’s good there is a standard rule. Also, since no state or local flag displayed jointly with the US flag may be flown above it, it forces state and local authorities to keep _their_ flags at half-staff for the same period of time. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/11 "2004-06-30T03:52:12Z")
:smack: farkin’ submit button… > [@JRDelirious](#): > > …and it was the full 30 days. Were it up to me I’d shorten it for non-sitting presidents, as a whole month seems like too much no matter who; but yes, it’s good there is a standard rule. Also, since no state or local flag displayed jointly with the US flag may be flown above it, it forces state and local authorities to keep _their_ flags at half-staff for the same period of time. … as I was saying, it forces them to keep their flags at half-staff for the same period of time as the US flag, for what period they join in with the Federal observance or hold their own time of observance. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/12 "2004-06-30T13:05:37Z")
Just for comparison, Judaism observes 30 days of mourning on the death of an immediate relative. (The death of a parent, Heaven forbid, calls for a year of mourning.) So the 30 day period for flying the flag at half-staff has precedents. Out of curiosity: What is the British practice for the death of a current or former Prime Minister? Or the death of a monarch? Do they fly their flag at half-staff, and for how long? ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/13 "2004-06-30T14:43:18Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > Out of curiosity: What is the British practice for the death of a current or former Prime Minister? Or the death of a monarch? Do they fly their flag at half-staff, and for how long? In the UK the only person whose death is automatically marked by flags flying at half-mast (‘half-mast’ being the usual British term) is the monarch. The flags remain at half-mast until after the funeral (except on the day when the new monarch is proclaimed), so, from a British perspective, thirty days does seem a bit excessive. Beyond that, the rules get a bit complicated. The assumption is that flags get flown at half-mast on the day of the funerals of other members of the Royal Family and of current/former prime ministers, but this is subject to orders issued once the death has been announced. And in the more important cases, the period is often extended to include all the days before the funeral. Except that these orders really only apply to the royal palaces, with the government then ordering other government buildings to follow suit. In the case of some of the big deaths (such as the Queen Mother or the Princess of Wales), many government buildings immediately lowered them anyway on the assumption that the specific instructions would follow. On rare occasions the Queen orders that other deaths be marked. The obvious recent examples would be after 9/11 and the Bali bombing. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/14 "2004-07-09T11:26:20Z")
Okay … Reagan died over a month ago. When will the flags go abck up? They haven’t around here. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/15 "2004-07-09T11:58:48Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > Okay … Reagan died over a month ago. When will the flags go abck up? They haven’t around here. If you’re talking about federal government offices, they should have gone back up already. If you’re talking about private businesses or citizens, whenever they please. You might inform them that the normal period is 30 days, but it’s really up to them. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/16 "2004-07-09T12:17:06Z")
> [@RabidChild](#): > > …given the whole “impeachment” thing, and all… Just a point – since the House never got to vote, is it proper to refer to this as “impeachment”? I remember raising this question a few years ago during Clinton’s impeachment. So, yeah, there were impeachment proceedings, but was Nixon “impeached” or only"almost impeached"? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/17 "2004-07-09T12:20:08Z")
Nixon resigned before he was impeached. Clinton and Andrew Johnson were impeached, but not convicted. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2004, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flying-of-us-flag-at-half-staff/252759/18 "2004-07-09T12:23:30Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Just a point – since the House never got to vote, is it proper to refer to this as “impeachment”? I remember raising this question a few years ago during Clinton’s impeachment. So, yeah, there were impeachment proceedings, but was Nixon “impeached” or only"almost impeached"? Nixon resigned before actually being impeached. From [infoplease](http://www.infoplease.com/spot/impeach.html) > [@](#): > > Two U.S. presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth chief executive, and William J. Clinton, the forty-second. Neither was convicted.