Half staff

[Nutsy]

This is just a bit of nothing.........but I heard on the tv that the flags are flying at half staff over there since the space shuttle tragedy.

That sounded so weird as we say HALF MAST.

Funny how little things like that can sound so weird hey??

 

[disneychrista]

"technically" Half MAST is for ships/boats. Half STAF is for on land.

 

[Nutsy]

That's very interesting........thank you for that

 

[Geoff_M]

disneychrista is correct. On land you fly your flag on a staff, not a mast. Also, if you own a flag pole and are lowering your in honor of the lost crew, the proper way to do it each morning is to first raise it to the top and then lower it to the "half staff" position.

 

[Nutsy]

It's funny, but until today I had never heard the expression Half Staff & it took me a few seconds to realise what George Bush meant.

We Aussies have always said Half Mast & I don't think I've ever seen the flag raised to the top of the pole then lowered to half as a mark of respect. I've only that I can recall seen it raised to the half way point.

Thanks for this guys...................I've learned something new.....

 

[Geoff_M]

Different countries have different protocols. I know in Canada (and I believe the UK) they do not salute the flag when it's lowered, they only stand at attention. I think the logic is that it's not a "good" thing when the flag it taken down. I think the symbolism of the "up, then down" procedure of taking a flag to half staff is like dropping your head as a sign of sorrow.

 

[Nutsy]

I don't think they salute it here either..................just stand at attention........at least that's what I've seen happen, but who knows if that's what happens everywhere.

This is amazing.............I found it interesting the half staff to half mast thing.......now I'm learning so much more.......

 

[Geoff_M]

Given the Aussie linkage to the UK, that makes sense. Here we salute on the way up... and down. Flag protocol is pretty interesting. Here's a site that covers the proper usage of "Old Glory" in the US: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagetiq.html

 

[Nutsy]

Hey thanks for that..............Yeah us Aussies are Brits from way back...........well our ancestors are anyway..........so we do lots of things the same.......

 

[Geoff_M]

If you're ever in London and take the tour at The Tower of London, the Beefeaters like to stop at Traitor's Gate and ask if there are any Austrialian's in the group. If so, they'll say "Odds are one of your ancestors walked through that gate!"

 

[paras4ri]

Thanks disneychrista....I never knew the difference and have heard both expressions.

This thread reminded me of when Diana died and there was talk about the Queen lowering a certain flag in respect. I'm probably going to get some protocol wrong but I don't think it was the royal standard (which denotes where she is in residence?) I believe it was the British flag and when the Queen left Buckingham Palace for the funeral, the royal standard was lowered, and the flag that replaced it was raised to full height then lowered to half staff.