--- title: "This is the only flag allowed to fly above the Stars and Stripes" date: "2019-07-01" modified: "2020-10-21" authors: - name: "Blake Stilwell" job_title: "Editor-In-Chief, Air Force Veteran" link: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/authors/blake/" url: "https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/this-is-when-its-okay-to-fly-deaths-flag-above-the-stars-and-stripes/" categories: - "History" --- # This is the only flag allowed to fly above the Stars and Stripes ![]() Death's flag is the flag flying above Old Glory when the nation is in mourning. No, you can't see it, but at least you're thinking about it, and that's the whole point of the American flag being at half mast. --- The tradition dates back to the 1612, when the British ship *Heart's Ease* arrived in Canada with her captain dead. When it next arrived in London, its [Union Jack was at half mast](), making room for the invisible flag of death. ![]() *This is is what it might have looked like, if the Royal Navy of the 1600s had destroyers and such.* The U.S. Navy first observed the custom in 1799 to mark the death of George Washington. The Navy Department ordered U.S. Navy ships to "wear their colours half mast high." The country would follow suit after that, but no guidelines were given for when and for whom it was appropriate. Title 4, Chapter 1, Section 7 of the United States Code outlines [strict guidelines for flying the U.S. flag](), and for lowering it, depending on who died. All Presidents are remembered for thirty days while the current Vice-President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Speaker of the House get ten days. The Department of Veterans Affairs has [a handy quick reference page]() for flying the flag at half mast, adding "The flag should be briskly run up to the top of the staff before being lowered slowly to the half-staff position." ![]() President Eisenhower declared structure for lowering the flag in 1954. the President can order the flag lowered to mourn the deaths of other officials and foreign dignitaries as well as to mark tragic events in the history of a nation. And no, President Obama did not order the flag at half mast for Whitney Houston. ![]() *Whitney, we hardly knew ye . . .* The flag was lowered nationally for Pope John Paul II, Neil Armstrong, Rosa Parks, Winston Churchill, Anwar Sadat, Yitzhak Rabin and Nelson Mandela. It was also lowered to mourn the shootings in Virginia Tech, Newtown, Conn., and Charleston, as well as for the Boston Marathon Bombing and the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Governors of the states, territories, and the Mayor of Washington, D.C. also have the authority to lower the flags in areas under their jurisdiction. If you can't lower you flag because its in a fixed position on the pole, the American Legion advises you to put a black ribbon to the top of the pole. ## Author Blake Stilwell is We Are The Mighty's Editor-in-Chief, covering military news, entertainment, and history, along with veteran education, employment and entrepreneurship. He is a former U.S. Air Force combat cameraman with degrees in Graphic Design, Television and Film, International Relations, Public Relations, Business Management and Middle Eastern Affairs. After leaving the military, he began working in film and television production in New York and Los Angeles, work that included ABC News, NBC Olympics, and HBO Sports. He then spent two years in Washington with White House Communications, before joining the Near East Foundation. At NEF he served as an International Development Fellow, then Communications Officer, and finally, Media Officer for the Middle East and Africa. Based in the Palestinian Territory, he coordinated strategic communications between eight country offices, international media, and government and NGO partners. He began a career focused on writing and editing in 2015 with We Are The Mighty. He left in 2019 for Military.com, but returned as Editor-in-Chief in 2025. Blake’s work has been seen on CBS News, Fox News, CBC, The Chicago Tribune, Task & Purpose, Military Times, Recoil, Skillset, American History, and was shockingly even used in a Supreme Court argument. He is an avid traveler and small business owner in Ohio, where he spends most of his energy fixing up a very old house. ### Author social links [Facebook]() [Twitter]() [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]()