Something that has interested me is the practice of some institutions to fly their flags halfway down the flag pole. Some years ago our school in Dodge did this after a couple of students were killed in a car wreck. I questioned it then,, telling principal only the governor, or president could authorize the flyin at "half staff" .

I see that Hofstra University has done it after a Student was killed in a home invasion recently. So found reference to the rules

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-mast

Of course the university called it "half mast" which is done on ship not land which is "half staff"

Dave

I got all choked-up reading through some of the
reasons for which countries observe the protocol.

Protocol, use to be the flag was taken down at sunset, raised at sunrise, not left up in the rain, replaced when it became torn and tattered, around here the flag is flown 24 hrs a day, never taken down in any weather, and there are lots of torn and tattered flags around town.

yup... never allowed to touch the ground yadda yadda...

I still remember how to fold a flag from my
grammar school patrol officer honor guard daze.

The Aussies are INSANE over "Remembrance Day"
..and honoring ANZAC Day etc. Everything from
the exact moment The Sun Rises marking the first
charge up the beach in Galipoli, Turkey took place
to the solumn sunset ceremonies. It marked the
point at which they'd lost so many of their young
male population that their population has yet to fully
recover from it.

Yar.. they hold honoring their dead very seriously.
The BoxingDay Tsunami will always be circled in red
on their calendar... as is the Victoria Bush Fires.

Lest We Forget

Back in October of '08 there was a funeral here of a local young man who had died in the Iraq/Afghanistan . The Phelps group had indicated they would demonstrate. So the local police units, city police, sheriffs dept set up a line of officers "protecting" them.

I went there to shoot the proceedings as the Biker group, Patriot Guard, were also there "protecting" the funeral participants.

It really grated on me, to see the Phelps group dragging and litteraly stomping on flags they had.

Dave

Harken back to a time gone past...Viet Nam war protest

Generally. Flag protocol.

When a Federal official has past away - both state and federal flags are lowered to half staff.

When a state official has past away - the state flag only goes to half staff, the Federal flag remains at full staff.

My feeling is that not just anyone can declare that others lower the flag. Only the President and governors under certain circumstances

Dave

The Phelps group

Hadda' look that up.

UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE!
What wood-pile did they crawl out from under?


OK,
Spooky story time:
I was killing time until an appointment (?) in a cemetery
nearby. In the center was a flagpole, arranged like spokes
was a ring of graves of the young men from that town
who'd died in action during the Viet Nam Police Action.

As I made the perimeter of the ring, I noticed that one
of the flags that had been placed there on Memorial Day
had come out of the dirt and was lying on it's side at
the head of the grave, so I picked it up and stuck it back
in the soil, and continued walking the circuit.

That's when I noticed that they were all from Kearney, NJ
yeah the same one in da' Sopranos...
By then I'd completed the circuit, and noticed the same
flag lying on the ground again, so I stuck it in again, and
noticed the date, 1969...same as the one next to it...and
the next!

I walked around the circle again, back to where I'd begun...
and noticed the flag again lying in the dirt. I shoved it deep
into the ground and read the date again... May, 1969,
same as the one next to it... OMG
they'd ALL been killed within a week of each other.
I saw the flag again on the muddy ground and this eerie
sensation flooded through me, I just backed toward my
car and left.

Oooooh. Spoooooky.

Dave