Flag etiquette extends to half-staff
displays
From Staff Reports
A national tragedy and the loss of a city government
official have kept many U.S. flags flying at half-staff around
the city of Elizabethton during the last two weeks.
President Bush ordered flags be flown at half-staff
to honor the seven astronauts killed when the space shuttle
Columbia disintegrated over Texas on Feb. 1.
Flags at Elizabethton City Hall and other municipal
sites flew at half-staff this week to mark the death of Councilwoman
Diane Morris.
Federal law spells out standards of etiquette
including events and duration of time to fly the U.S. flag
at half-staff.
According to U.S. Code Title 36, Chapter 10,
commonly referred to as the "Flag Code," the president may
order the flag be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal
figures of the United States Government and the governor of
a state, territory, or possession, as a mark of respect to
their memory. In the event of the death of other officials
or foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff
according to presidential orders, or in accordance with recognized
customs or practices not inconsistent with law.
The Code reads that the flag is to be flown at
half-staff 30 days from the death of the president or a former
president, 10 days from the day of death of the vice president,
the chief justice or a retired chief justice of the United
States, or the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Flag Code specifies half-staff time span
to extend from the day of death until the interment of an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, a secretary of an
executive or military department, a former vice president,
or the governor of a state, territory, or possession, and
on the day of death and the following day for a Member of
Congress.
The Flag Code also specifies that in the event
of the death of a present or former state government official
of the United States, the governor of that state may proclaim
that the national flag shall be flown at half-staff.
