Who decides when a flag should be flown at half-mast?
The president and state governors are the only people who can proclaim that the American flag be flown at half-mast. We found the answer at ushistory.org, which explains that there are three official days the flag is always flown at half-mast: Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), Patriot Day (September 11), and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 7). Gettysburg Flag Works, a commercial web site with an extensive section on flag etiquette, lists two more: Korean War Veterans Day (July 27) and Memorial Day (the last Monday in May). The United States Flag Code dictates “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.” The
