Flags at half-staff this week
President Bush ordered that flags be flown at half-staff this week to "honor victims" of the tsunami.
According to the American Legion the significance of displaying the flag at half-staff is:
"This gesture is a sign to indicate the nation mourns the death of an individual(s), such as death of the President or former President, Vice President, Supreme Court Justice, member of Congress, Secretary of an executive or military department, etc. Only the President of the United States or the Governor of the State may order the flag to be half-staffed. The honor and reverence accorded this solemn act is quickly becoming eroded by those individuals and agencies that display the flag at half-staff on inappropriate occasions without proper authority to do so."
Our local city is really bad about this. A firefighter or cop dies and they fly the flag at half-staff. While it is certainly a loss for the city when a public servant dies, it is not proper flag etiquette to fly the flag at half-staff.
And, just by the way: a flag is flown at half-mast ONLY on a ship or boat. Half-staff is the appropriate wording for a flag on good old terra firma.
According to the American Legion the significance of displaying the flag at half-staff is:
"This gesture is a sign to indicate the nation mourns the death of an individual(s), such as death of the President or former President, Vice President, Supreme Court Justice, member of Congress, Secretary of an executive or military department, etc. Only the President of the United States or the Governor of the State may order the flag to be half-staffed. The honor and reverence accorded this solemn act is quickly becoming eroded by those individuals and agencies that display the flag at half-staff on inappropriate occasions without proper authority to do so."
Our local city is really bad about this. A firefighter or cop dies and they fly the flag at half-staff. While it is certainly a loss for the city when a public servant dies, it is not proper flag etiquette to fly the flag at half-staff.
And, just by the way: a flag is flown at half-mast ONLY on a ship or boat. Half-staff is the appropriate wording for a flag on good old terra firma.
6 Comments:
At 10:14 AM, January 03, 2005,
Anonymous said…
AoM, I'm with you on the situtation in general. Weep for the loss of life and the individual, but the countries.....not so much. I couldn't believe when I heard the half-mast thing on the news.
Spacebunny
At 12:12 PM, January 03, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
Half-staff ladies. Half-staff. :) Sorry, once a reporter/editor, always a reporter/editor. I have a whole other issue with the term "citizen", too. I may blog about that today while it is fresh in my mind.
And, I didn't say anything about it, but am glad to know that others believe that the half-staff honor should be reserved for Americans. I whole-heartedly agree.
At 1:21 PM, January 03, 2005,
Uzz said…
per the code:
"By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law."
It does By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law."
The code does giveBy order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law."
By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law."
It does give the By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law.
It does give the President authority to fly them at half staff for non-U.S. individuals. It may be a bit much to do this for so many people, but I am sure Bush did this because this was such a huge loss of life which includes quite a few Americans that were killed or still missing. According to Colin Powell, 5000 Americans are still unaccounted for...
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11847519%255E1702,00.html
At 1:24 PM, January 03, 2005,
Uzz said…
hmmmmm...looks like Blogger went nuts on my last post! Hopefully you can fight through it for the meat.
At 1:26 PM, January 03, 2005,
Uzz said…
per the code:
"By order of the President, the flag shall 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 instructions or orders, or in accordance with recognized customs or practices not inconsistent with law."
It does give the President authority to fly them at half staff for non-U.S. individuals. It may be a bit much to do this for so many people, but I am sure Bush did this because this was such a huge loss of life which includes quite a few Americans that were killed or still missing. According to Colin Powell, 5000 Americans are still unaccounted for...
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11847519%255E1702,00.html
At 3:54 PM, January 03, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
Heartless wench that I am ... still think the flag at half-staff should be reserved for national tragedies and national leaders. *shrug*
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