somebody today posted the code for half-staff flag flying...

[grasswire]

.....and I can't find it. A freeper is quarreling with me about the actual rules.

Anyone remember what thread this was in?

[Gore1FL]

1. No idea, but here is a link

http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

[HawkerHurricane]

2. I don't know about a thread...

but 20 years as a USN signalman, I'm pretty much an expert at flag code.
What do you want to know?
(30 days at half staff for a President or former President, counting from the day of death. Half staff means halfway to the top. To do it properly, you must hoist the flag "Briskly" to the peak, then "Ceremoniously" to half staff. Bringing the flag down at sunset, it is "briskly" brought to the peak, then "ceremoniously" hauled down.)

[calimary]

6. No kidding, a full MONTH?

Well, then, that explains why all the flags at the local VA are still at half-staff. I thought that'd be over after "Reagan Week" ended. Enough already! Although that also means they'll have to do it for a month when Clinton passes.

neener-neener-neener!

[HawkerHurricane]

10. ALL Presidents get 30 days!

NIXON got 30 days!

FORD will get 30 days!

And of course, so will Carter and Clinton.

Don't let any freeper idiot tell you (as one tried to tell me) that Reagan got half masted longer than any other President...

(On a side note, don't argue with a expert in his subject. I was able to give him the flippen page number in the navy publication on the flag code. NTP-13, Chapter 2, page 6. See also appendix 2, page 1.)

[muriel_volestrangler]

12. Although that doesn't necessarily apply to all countries

"Half mast" or "half staff" (I've never heard the latter in Britain) may only be one third of the way down, or even just a flag width, if you trust "Flags of the World":
"Again, there is no single protocol covering all flags. Each nation or organization has its own rules. For example, the flag of Sa'udi Arabia is never to be half-staffed. There are a few general rules of thumb for most other countries and groups, however. At the order of an authority or at a time proscribed by law, the flag is lowered to a position further down the staff, usually slowly and with great solemnity. Some Europeans lower it one flag width (to respect the invisible "flag of death"), Australians lower it one-third of the way, and most others -- including Maltans, Americans, and Portuguese, as examples -- will literally fly the flag halfway up the staff. The U.S. military regards flying the flag anywhere other than at the top of the pole as "half-staff". If a flag cannot be half-staffed, it should be taken down. When raising a flag under half-staff, the flag is first raised to the top of the pole, then lowered to its position. When the flag is taken down, again, the flag should be raised to full and then lowered and removed. Only ensigns on a ship are flown at "half-mast"; flags on land are flown at "half-staff"."
http://www.fotw.net/flags/faq2.html#half

[grasswire]

3. thanks loads, that works n/t

[Mnemosyne]

4. good link

However, does anyone know why the flag hasn't been flown at half-mast since the first soldier died in the war on "terror"?

A Vietnam veteran told me they never do for war casualties, seems that we should.

Anyone know why not ?

Thanks!



edit> Wouldn't this be a great show of respect?!

[HawkerHurricane]

5. You would have to fly it at half mast continously...

since people are constantly dying in service during war.

Proper display is for the unit which lost a man to fly at half mast for that day, since they are showing thier grief.

[Mnemosyne]

8. thanks Hawker

still believe it should be done nation wide to remind us all of the sacrifices kids are making and deaths of innocents.

re: does anyone read this? yes, enjoy your sunshine!

[HawkerHurricane]

9. Half Masted on Memorial day.

from 8am to 1221pm, the flag flies at half mast to remember our war dead. Nobody seems to notice, I guess they're all sleeping in.

The reason for the wierd 1221pm time...
At noon, a 21 minute gun salute is fired in their honor. At the end of the salute, the flag is raised to the peak.

And a minute gun salute is one shot per minute.

[gratuitous]

7. If it makes you feel better

Pretend they're flying at half mast for Ray Charles, a far finer American.

[Catherine Vincent]

11. Have all banks, businesses etc. been flying their flags half-staff?

The other day I was driving down 45 south in Houston and a business didn't have their flag at half staff. Maybe it was broken.:shrug: But what if some reagan-hating (or some future clinton-hating) idiot business owner decides not to fly their flag at half staff, will they get in trouble if someone turns them in?