If you’re driving around Northern Kentucky and see a flag being flown at half-staff, it is because of a national proclamation to honor former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29.
Flags being flown at half-staff or half-mast have been a topic of conversation nationally after federal and state orders required flags to remain at half-staff until Jan. 28; however, the presidential inauguration falls between that time, in which flags are typically flown at full staff.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced on Jan. 14 that the U.S. Capitol will fly at full staff on Jan. 20.
“On January 20th, the flags at the Capitol will fly at full staff to celebrate our country coming together behind the inauguration of our 47th President, Donald Trump,” Johnson said in a statement. “The flags will be lowered back to half-staff the following day to continue honoring President Jimmy Carter.”
The flags will return to half-staff on Jan. 21.
On Dec. 29, 2024, President Joe Biden released a proclamation stating that in honor and tribute to Carter’s memory, the flag would be displayed at half-staff at “the White House, on all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions.”
Before Johnson’s statement on Jan. 14, President-Elect Donald Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, on Jan. 3 to express his opinion on the matter: “In any event, because of the death of President Jimmy Carter, the Flag may, for the first time ever during an Inauguration of a future President, be at half-mast,” Trump posted. “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it. Let’s see how it plays out.”
History of flags flown at half-staff
President Dwight Eisenhower issued a proclamation on March 1, 1954, formalizing and clarifying the practice of flying the flag at half-staff as a mark of national mourning or respect.
Half-staff means the flag should be quickly raised to the top of the staff before being lowered slowly to half-staff.
According to Va.Gov, the flag should fly at half-staff for 30 days at all federal buildings, grounds and naval vessels throughout the United States, its territories and possessions after the death of the president or a former president. It is to fly at half-staff for 10 days after the death of the vice president, the chief justice or a retired chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, or the speaker of the House of Representatives.
“These periods of mourning are proclaimed either by the president of the United States, for national remembrance, or the governor of a state or territory, for local remembrance, in the event of a death of a member or former member of the federal, state or territorial government or judiciary,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
The flag is also flown at half-staff on Memorial Day. It is flown at half-staff from sunrise until noon and then raised to full-staff until sunset to mourn and honor the country’s deceased service men and women.
