Half-staff

A flag of New Zealand at half-staff

Half-staff or half-mast describes a flag being displayed at halfway up a flagpole or a ship's mast. This is done in many countries as a symbol of respect, mourning, or distress, or a form of honor.

The flag does not always have to be flown at exactly the half-way point, sometimes it is acceptable to have the "half-mast" flag at slightly lower or slightly higher than the middle of the flagpole or mast. Originally, "half-staff" meant that the flag had to be flown one flag-width from the top to allow for the "invisible flag of mourning" to be at the top.

Half-staff Media

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  The Finnish flag flying at half-mast after the 2011 Norway attacks

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  The American flag flying at half-mast in Buchenwald, Thuringia, Germany, on 19 April 1945 after the death of US President Franklin Roosevelt

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  The Australian White Ensign flying at half-mast. In accordance with British tradition, the flag is flying only one flag's width below the top of the pole.

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  The Brazilian flag flying at half-mast beside the Mercosul flag in front of the National Congress of Brazil in memory of the victims of the Chapecoense crash on 29 November 2016

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  The flag of Canada, the flag of Québec, and the flag of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets are half-masted on board Bagotville Cadet Summer Training Centre, following the train detrailment and explosion of Lac Mégantic, Québec.

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  The flag of Canada at half-mast outside the Joseph Shepard Building in Toronto, following the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 2021

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  Chinese flag at half-mast to mark to mourn for the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake

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  Black ribbons indicate mourning on banners that cannot be lowered to half-mast.

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  Hong Kong SAR flag flown at half mast

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  Indian flag flown at half-mast at the Red Fort