Who Gets the Flag? The Surprisingly Loose Rules Behind Flying the American Flag at Half-Staff

Who Gets the Flag? The Surprisingly Loose Rules Behind Flying the American Flag at Half-Staff

I had a question this week that I realized I had somehow never really thought about before.

What are the actual rules for lowering the American flag?

The question came after seeing that President Donald Trump had ordered flags lowered to half-staff following the death of Dolly Parton, with the order lasting from August 25 through sunset on September 1, 2026.

This isn’t an argument about whether Dolly Parton deserves to be honored. Her place in American culture is difficult to dispute.

It was the length that made me curious.

A week.

Why a week?

Is there a chart somewhere?

President: 30 days.

Senator: two days.

Supreme Court Justice: until burial.

Astronaut: one day.

Musician: seven days?

As it turns out, some of those answers actually are written into federal law.

Others basically come down to the President deciding.

And once you start looking through American history, the distinction between the two becomes pretty interesting.

First: What Does “Half-Staff” Actually Mean?

For flags on land, the American term is technically half-staff. “Half-mast” traditionally refers to flags aboard ships, although people routinely use the terms interchangeably.

The United States Flag Code defines half-staff as positioning the flag halfway between the top and bottom of the staff.

There is also a procedure.

When lowering the flag to half-staff, it isn’t simply raised halfway.

The flag is first raised all the way to the peak, held there momentarily, and then lowered to half-staff.

When taking it down, the process happens in reverse: the flag is first raised back to the peak before being lowered completely.

Even the act of mourning has choreography.

There Actually Are Mandatory Mourning Periods.

The rules primarily appear in 4 U.S.C. § 7(m), part of the United States Flag Code.

For certain government officials, the duration isn’t something the President invents each time.

There is already a schedule.

President or Former President 30 Days

When a sitting or former President dies, federal flags are flown at half-staff for 30 days from the date of death.

That is why the death of former President George H.W. Bush resulted in the flag remaining lowered for essentially the entire month of December 2018.

Vice President 10 Days

A sitting Vice President receives 10 days.

The same 10-day period applies to:

• the Chief Justice of the United States;

• a retired Chief Justice; and

• the Speaker of the House.

Certain Senior Officials Until Interment

For several other offices, the period runs from the date of death through the person’s interment.

That category includes:

• an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court;

• a Cabinet secretary;

• a former Vice President; and

• a Governor of a state, territory or possession.

Members of Congress Two Days

For a Senator, Representative, Delegate or Resident Commissioner, the Flag Code specifies the day of death and the following day for the nationwide federal observance.

Additional rules historically apply within Washington and the deceased member’s home state or district.

These aren’t merely traditions someone at the White House remembers.

They are written into the federal Flag Code.

Memorial Day Has Its Own Strange Rule.

Here’s another one I didn’t know.

On Memorial Day, the American flag isn’t supposed to remain at half-staff for the entire day.

It is flown at half-staff only until noon.

At noon, it is raised to full staff for the remainder of the day.

Symbolically, the morning honors those who died in military service, while raising the flag at noon represents the continuation of the nation for which they sacrificed.

So if you’ve ever seen a flag at full staff on Memorial Day afternoon and assumed somebody screwed up, they may actually be the person following the rule correctly.

There Are Also Recurring National Half-Staff Observances.

Half-staff isn’t exclusively triggered by someone’s death that week.

Federal law and presidential proclamations establish or recognize several recurring observances.

Peace Officers Memorial Day, May 15, is specifically addressed by the Flag Code, although there is an exception when it coincides with Armed Forces Day.

Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day on December 7 is another federally established observance calling for flags to be lowered in honor of those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.

September 11 has similarly become a national half-staff observance through Patriot Day proclamations.

So far, this all seems fairly structured.

Then we get to the President.

The President Has Enormous Discretion.

This is where the rules become much less mathematical.

The Flag Code establishes periods for particular government officials, but presidents can also direct federal flags to half-staff following national tragedies, deaths of foreign leaders and deaths of Americans whom the President believes warrant national recognition.

There is no statutory table establishing:

Famous private citizen = X number of days.

There isn’t even a clearly defined test establishing how famous, influential or historically significant someone needs to be.

President Dwight Eisenhower’s 1954 Proclamation 3044 helped establish uniform federal procedures for deaths of government officials. But the proclamation also preserved presidential discretion for other officials, former officials and foreign dignitaries.

Over time, presidents have gone considerably beyond government officeholders.

And that’s where the history becomes interesting.

George W. Bush Lowered the Flag for Bob Hope.

Bob Hope died in 2003.

He had never been President.

He wasn’t a Senator.

He wasn’t a Supreme Court Justice.

He was an entertainer.

But he also spent decades entertaining American military personnel around the world and became deeply associated with the Armed Forces.

President George W. Bush ordered flags lowered nationwide on the day of Hope’s interment.

One day.

Bush Did the Same for Rosa Parks.

When civil-rights icon Rosa Parks died in 2005, Bush ordered federal flags lowered nationwide on the day of her interment.

Again, one day.

Parks wasn’t being honored because she occupied an office covered by the Flag Code.

The President made a determination that her contribution to American history warranted a national honor.

And Coretta Scott King.

When Coretta Scott King died in 2006, Bush issued another proclamation.

Flags were lowered nationwide on February 7, the day of her interment, until sunset.

Again: one day.

A pattern starts emerging.

For extraordinary private citizens, the day of interment has frequently been used as a presidential choice.

But it isn’t a requirement.

Obama and Neil Armstrong.

Neil Armstrong might be one of the easiest examples imaginable of a private citizen whose accomplishment became inseparable from American history.

First human being to walk on the Moon.

President Barack Obama ordered flags lowered nationwide for Armstrong.

But again, the order wasn’t for a week.

It was on the day of Armstrong’s interment until sunset.

Obama and Dorothy Height.

Civil-rights leader Dorothy Height received the same type of recognition in 2010.

Obama ordered federal flags lowered on the day of her interment.

Then Obama Went Further for Nelson Mandela.

The President’s authority isn’t limited to Americans.

After former South African President Nelson Mandela died in December 2013, Obama ordered American flags lowered from December 5 through sunset December 9.

That’s several days of national flag mourning for a former leader of another country.

Presidents have also lowered flags following tragedies overseas.

That tells us something important.

Half-staff orders aren’t simply a hierarchy of American government positions.

They are also a form of presidential speech.

National Tragedies Are Another Category Entirely.

Mass shootings, terrorist attacks, attacks on law enforcement, natural disasters and other catastrophes have repeatedly resulted in presidential half-staff proclamations.

But here again, there isn’t a simple statutory formula saying:

10 victims = two days.

20 victims = four days.

50 victims = one week.

Presidents decide.

For example, during 2018 alone, Trump ordered flags lowered following the Parkland school shooting, the Santa Fe High School shooting, the Capital Gazette attack, the Pittsburgh synagogue attack and the Thousand Oaks shooting.

The lengths varied.

Parkland received approximately five days.

Santa Fe received approximately five.

Pittsburgh received five.

Thousand Oaks received three.

The Capital Gazette victims were honored for a day.

The differences don’t necessarily indicate that one tragedy was considered more important than another.

They demonstrate that there isn’t a universal mathematical formula governing discretionary proclamations.

Trump’s First Administration Shows Both Sides of the System.

Trump’s first term provides a particularly useful example because 2018 contained almost every category at once.

When former President George H.W. Bush died, the flag went down for 30 days.

Trump wasn’t choosing 30 days.

That was the established presidential mourning period.

When evangelist Billy Graham died, Trump ordered the flag lowered on the day of his interment.

When Senator John McCain died, flags ultimately remained lowered through his interment, amid a very public controversy about the White House’s handling of the flag.

When former First Lady Barbara Bush died, flags were lowered through her interment.

And following mass shootings, Trump repeatedly issued multi-day proclamations.

Same President.

Different legal and traditional categories.

Trump’s Second Administration Makes the Discretion Even Easier to See.

Since returning to office, Trump has continued using presidential proclamations for people and events outside the automatic statutory categories.

When Pope Francis died in April 2025, Trump ordered flags lowered immediately and kept them lowered until sunset on the day of interment.

Following the Minneapolis shooting in August 2025, Trump ordered flags lowered from August 27 through August 31.

After Charlie Kirk was killed in September 2025, Trump ordered flags lowered from September 10 through sunset September 14 roughly five days.

When West Virginia National Guard Specialist Sarah Beckstrom died following the Washington attack in 2025, Trump issued a nationwide half-staff proclamation through sunset that day.

In July 2026, following the death of Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump ordered nationwide federal flags lowered from July 13 until 6 p.m. July 18.

And then came the proclamation that sent me down this rabbit hole.

Following Dolly Parton’s death, Trump ordered flags lowered nationwide beginning August 25 and continuing until sunset September 1.

One week.

Dolly Isn’t Really the Story

That’s actually what makes this interesting.

This doesn’t need to become an argument about Dolly Parton.

Bob Hope received the honor.

Rosa Parks received it.

Coretta Scott King received it.

Neil Armstrong received it.

Dorothy Height received it.

Billy Graham received it.

Charlie Kirk received it.

Presidents have extended it to foreign leaders and victims of tragedies inside and outside the United States.

The fascinating part is that there isn’t one rule governing all of them.

For certain offices, Congress and longstanding presidential rules tell us exactly what happens.

For everyone else, the President is effectively making a judgment.

Not only:

Should the flag be lowered?

But also:

For how long?

Who Else Can Order a Flag Lowered?

Presidents aren’t the only ones with authority here.

Governors can issue half-staff proclamations within their states in several circumstances, including the deaths of state officials and certain members of the Armed Forces or first responders.

The Mayor of Washington, D.C., has similar authority within the District.

Federal law specifically recognizes that authority.

There are therefore circumstances where the flag might be at half-staff in Illinois, for example, while remaining at full staff on federal facilities elsewhere in the country.

A nationwide presidential proclamation is different.

It applies to federal buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations and vessels, and typically U.S. embassies, consulates and other federal facilities around the world.

And No, the President Doesn’t Literally Lower Every American Flag.

A presidential proclamation directly controls flags under federal authority.

It doesn’t mean federal agents start driving around making homeowners lower the flags hanging from their porches.

States, municipalities, businesses and private citizens generally follow a nationwide presidential proclamation as a matter of protocol and respect.

That’s why a presidential order appears visually nationwide even though the underlying authority is more complicated.

So Who Decides Who Is Important Enough?

For the automatic categories, the answer is easy.

The law.

For everybody else?

Essentially, the President.

And there doesn’t appear to be a publicly defined federal scoring system for that decision.

There isn’t a Department of Half-Staff assigning points for cultural impact.

There isn’t a rule requiring someone to have held public office.

There isn’t a rule saying an astronaut qualifies but an actor doesn’t.

There isn’t a prescribed mourning period for musicians, activists, religious leaders, athletes or celebrities.

There isn’t even a standard duration for national tragedies.

Presidents use proclamations to make those determinations.

Which means lowering the American flag is simultaneously legal protocol, national tradition and presidential discretion.

The Duration May Be the Most Interesting Part.

Once you understand the system, simply asking whether someone “deserves” half-staff treatment misses half the question.

Duration communicates something too.

George H.W. Bush: 30 days, required by the established rule for former Presidents.

Bob Hope: day of interment.

Rosa Parks: day of interment.

Coretta Scott King: day of interment.

Dorothy Height: day of interment.

Neil Armstrong: day of interment.

Billy Graham: day of interment.

Nelson Mandela: several days.

Charlie Kirk: roughly five days.

Dolly Parton: one week.

And national tragedies have ranged from a single day to several days.

Those aren’t necessarily measurements of whose life mattered more.

But they are presidential choices about the duration of national symbolic mourning.

That’s a distinction I had never really considered.

A Tradition With Rules Until There Aren’t Any.

I started looking into this because I saw a flag being lowered and wondered why it would remain there for a week.

I expected to find a complicated government chart explaining exactly how these decisions are made.

Instead, I found something considerably more American.

We have extremely specific rules.

The Flag Code tells us exactly how to physically lower the flag.

It tells us that Memorial Day means half-staff until noon.

It tells us a President gets 30 days.

A Vice President gets 10.

Certain officials get until burial.

Members of Congress get the day of death and following day.

Then you reach everyone else and discover that much of the answer becomes:

The President decides.

And maybe that’s the more interesting story.

Because the American flag at half-staff looks like one of our most formal national rituals.

Sometimes it is.

Other times, it is one person occupying the presidency deciding that a person or event deserves the country to look a little different when Americans wake up the next morning.

And deciding how long it should stay that way.