When Do You Fly the Flag at Half Mast?

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Harvey Kronberg with Austin Flag and Flagpole and we are frequently asked when you are supposed to fly the flag at half staff. In fact that's one of the reasons people actually do get flags is for those occasional days when you are supposed to fly it at half staff. There's five official days for flying half staff. The first is peace officers memorial day that's May fifteenth, Memorial Day itself, that's the last Monday in May, that's where you lower the flag to half staff until twelve o'clock and then you raise the flag to full staff for the duration of the day. The first Sunday of October is actually the start of fire prevention week, that's considered an appropriate time to fly your flag at half staff. Of course Patriot's day which is September eleventh and December seventh is National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. In addition you want to fly your flag at half staff upon a death of a president, a vice president, chief justice of the supreme court, speaker of the house. And of course the president can declare a flying the flag at half staff, all he does is issue a proclamation for a national tragedy or the death of somebody significant or somebody that deserves recognition. Governors are empowered to authorize the flying of flags at half staff in their states for the death of a government official or a military person who is on active duty. They frequently will order flags to be flown at half staff for local celebrities and such. That's not really part of the flag code but it is acceptable tradition. And mayors really don't have much authority to order flags at half staff at all. But again by local custom they will if somebody that's extraordinary or local of note has passed away. So those are pretty much the reasons why people, the reasons and dates that people do fly the flag at half staff."