Why Are Flags Flown At Half-Staff?

Laurie OlsenUncategorized

There is no greater honor, no deeper indication of a nation’s mourning, than to lower flags at half-staff to mark a dignitary’s passing. Perhaps the earliest example of such recognition in United States came in 1799, when the death of George Washington occasioned the Navy Department to order its vessels to “wear their colors half-mast high.” However, the practice dates …