Flagpole KingsNational Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day falls on Monday, December 7, 2026, the 85th anniversary of the attack. The short answer: the American flag flies at half-staff on December 7, from sunrise to sunset. It isn't a half-day like Memorial Day. At the end of the day the flag goes back up to the peak and is then lowered for the night.
That's the part most people know. What trips them up is the doing of it: how far down "half" really is, what to do with the state flag or the POW/MIA flag sharing the pole, how to half-staff a flag on an internal-halyard pole with a winch, and what to do on a pole that can't be half-staffed at all. This guide covers the law, who has the authority to order half-staff on other days, and the practical steps for every common kind of flagpole.
What the law actually says
December 7 became National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day by an act of Congress in 1994 (Public Law 103-308). The current text is at 36 U.S.C. 129. It does two things:
- It names December 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
- It asks the President to issue a proclamation every year calling on the public to observe the day with ceremonies, and calling on federal departments and agencies, organizations and individuals to fly the flag at half-staff each December 7, in honor of those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.
The attack on the morning of December 7, 1941 killed about 2,400 Americans, service members and civilians. The National Park Service, which runs the memorial, notes that 1,177 of them died aboard the USS Arizona alone. Its Remembrance Day page has the history and details of the annual ceremony at Pearl Harbor.
Two things to keep straight:
- It isn't a federal holiday. Offices, schools and businesses are open as usual. That's actually why so many flags get missed: nobody has the day off to think about it.
- For civilians it's a request, not an order with a penalty. The Flag Code is guidance. Federal buildings follow the proclamation. Businesses, schools, churches and homes choose to, and most that fly a flag every day do.
How to fly a flag at half-staff, step by step
The procedure comes from the Flag Code itself, 4 U.S.C. 7(m): the flag is first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position, and it is raised to the peak again before it is lowered for the day.
In practice, on a standard external-halyard pole:
- Attach the flag to the snap hooks at the usual spot on the halyard. If a second flag flies beneath it, clip that on below.
- Raise it briskly all the way to the top. Don't stop halfway on the way up. The pause at the peak is brief, a second or two.
- Lower it slowly to the half-staff position.
- Wrap the halyard securely on the cleat. A flag at half-staff has more loose rope hanging below the cleat than usual. Coil it neatly so it doesn't slap the pole.
- At the end of the day, raise the flag back to the peak, pause, then lower it ceremoniously all the way down. It shouldn't touch the ground.
- The next morning, if the observance is over, raise it to full staff as normal.
If the flag stays up overnight under a light, the end-of-day step is skipped until the half-staff period ends. On December 8 it simply goes back to the peak.
How far down is "half"?
The Flag Code defines half-staff as the position of the flag when it is "one-half the distance between the top and bottom of the staff." It doesn't say whether that means the top of the flag, the middle of the flag or the bottom, and you'll find guides that read it differently. Some put the flag's center at the midpoint. Others put it anywhere from halfway to two-thirds of the way down.
On a tall commercial pole, a practical rule is to lower the flag until it is clearly and unmistakably below the top, so nobody walking past could think it simply slipped. On a 30 ft pole flying a 5 by 8 ft flag, putting the flag's center around 15 ft does that. On a short residential pole with a large flag, exact halfway can put the flag's fly end close to the ground, and lowering it a little less is the sensible call.
A tip for buildings that half-staff often: once you've found the right position, mark the halyard at the cleat with a small whipping of tape or thread. Then whoever is on duty next time puts it in the same place every time.
Half-staff and half-mast
On land the correct term is half-staff. Half-mast is the naval term, for a flag on a ship's mast or on a mast-style pole ashore. Both mean the same thing, and nobody's going to correct you at a ceremony, but the Flag Code uses "half-staff."
Different poles, different methods
This is where most of the questions come from. The procedure above assumes a rope you can see and a cleat at shoulder height. Plenty of poles don't work that way.
| Pole type | How to half-staff it | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| External halyard, rope and cleat | Peak, then lower by hand and tie off at the cleat | Coil the extra rope so it doesn't slap the shaft |
| Internal halyard, cam cleat | Open the access door, run the flag to the peak, lower to the mark, lock the cam | Mark the rope inside the door so the position repeats |
| Internal halyard, winch | Crank to the peak, then wind down to half-staff; the winch holds the flag where you stop | Count the turns once and write the number inside the door |
| Telescoping residential pole | Many owners clip the flag to a lower set of rings and leave the top set empty | The flag can't go to the peak first, so do what the pole allows |
| Wall bracket or angled house pole | Can't be half-staffed in the Code's sense | The Code doesn't cover it; some owners take the flag in for the day |
| Pole with two or three flags on one halyard | Lower every flag together; the U.S. flag stays at the top of the group | See the next section |
Internal halyard poles
Schools, town buildings, VA sites and most public frontages use internal halyards, with the rope or cable inside the shaft and the controls behind a locking door near the base. America's Dealers and Distributors explains the reasoning in its internal vs external halyard guide: the flag can't be lowered without a key, there's no rope slap, and the rope is protected from the weather.
The catch on a day like December 7 is the key. ADD's guide makes the point that the access door key has to be somewhere findable years later, and suggests keeping it somewhere institutional rather than in a drawer. A December morning with a locked door and no key means the flag stays at full staff on Remembrance Day. Find it the week before.
On a winch system the procedure is the same as the Code describes, just with a crank instead of a rope: wind the flag to the peak, then back down to half-staff, and the brake holds it there. Count the turns the first time and write the number on a label inside the door.
Telescoping poles
American Flag & Pole Co. of Phoenix makes a practical point in its half-staff procedure page: on a telescoping pole it's acceptable to put the flag on the second set of rings and leave the top empty. The flag can't be run to the peak first, because the rings don't travel, but the intent of the display is clear and that's what matters.
Other flags on the same pole or nearby
On the same halyard. The U.S. flag always stays at the peak of the group (4 U.S.C. 7(f)). When it goes to half-staff, the POW/MIA flag, state flag or service flag beneath it comes down with it. You lower the whole set, keeping the order.
On adjacent poles. The Code says the U.S. flag is hoisted first and lowered last when flags fly on adjacent staffs. It doesn't spell out what other flags do on a half-staff day, but the common practice, which several flag makers repeat, is that state and other flags nearby are either lowered to half-staff as well or not flown that day. No other flag should fly higher than the U.S. flag while it's at half-staff. In practice that means lowering them all, or taking the others down.
Company and logo flags. Same rule: lower them with the U.S. flag, or take them in for the day.
Who can order flags to half-staff
December 7 is fixed by statute, so it's on the calendar every year. Most other half-staff days come from an order. The Flag Code, again at 4 U.S.C. 7(m), sets out who can give one and for how long.
| Who orders it | When | How long |
|---|---|---|
| The President | Death of a President or former President | 30 days from the day of death |
| The President | Death of the Vice President, the Chief Justice or a retired Chief Justice, or the Speaker of the House | 10 days from the day of death |
| The President | Death of an Associate Justice, a cabinet or military department Secretary, a former Vice President, or a Governor | From the day of death until burial |
| The President | Death of a Member of Congress | The day of death and the following day |
| The President | Other officials or foreign dignitaries | As the President directs |
| A state Governor | Death of a present or former state official, a service member from that state who died on active duty, or a first responder who died in the line of duty | As the proclamation says; federal sites in the state follow it for a service member's death |
| The Mayor of DC | The same categories, for the District | As the proclamation says |
| By statute | Memorial Day; Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15, unless it's Armed Forces Day); Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day; Patriot Day (Sept 11) | Memorial Day until noon; the others sunrise to sunset |
A few things follow from this:
- A private business, a school board or a homeowners' association can't order the U.S. flag to half-staff in the Code's sense. They can, of course, choose to lower their own flag, and many do for a local loss. But the official half-staff orders come from the President, a governor or the Mayor of the District of Columbia.
- Governors' orders come up often. Many governors post their half-staff orders online, and some offer email alerts. If you manage a flag for a school, a county or a business that likes to get it right, sign up for your governor's notices.
- Federal sites follow a governor's order for a service member from that state who died on active duty. A post office or a federal courthouse in that state lowers its flag too.
A December 7 checklist for schools, businesses and posts
| When | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Early December | Check the White House proclamations page and your governor's notices | Confirms the day and any wording on display |
| The week before | Find the access-door key for any internal-halyard pole | No key, no half-staff |
| The week before | Run the flag up and down once; check the rope, snap hooks and cleat or winch brake | A sticking rope or slipping brake is better found now than on the day |
| The week before | Look at the flag itself: faded, frayed or torn? | A worn flag shouldn't fly, half-staff or not |
| The day before | Name the person who lowers it in the morning and raises it at the end of the day | "Whoever's in first" usually means nobody |
| December 7, morning | Peak, pause, lower to half-staff; lower any flags flying with it | 4 U.S.C. 7(m) and 7(f) |
| December 7, sunset | Raise to the peak, then lower for the night, or leave it lit if it flies 24 hours | Returns to full staff on December 8 |
| December 8 | Full staff again | Back to normal |
When the pole is the problem
Some years the trouble on December 7 isn't the procedure but the pole: a frayed halyard that nobody wants to trust with the weight of a half-staff flag, a cam cleat that won't hold, a winch that slips, or a shaft that's leaned since the last big storm. That's where America's Dealers and Distributors comes in.
A person answers. You call or text (350) 305-3524, or send the town and what's wrong, and one person reads it and replies with a real number, usually the same business day. ADD would rather spend fifteen minutes on the phone than sell you the wrong pole.
Public sites need the right halyard. ADD's military and government page says that a locking access door instead of an exposed cleat is close to mandatory on public and secured property. It also points out that POW/MIA, state and service flags flown together are common on military and veteran sites, and that the pole and hardware need to be sized for the extra load. A pole rated for one flag in your wind isn't automatically rated for three.
A replacement sized to the address. If a pole broke in a storm, ADD checks whether it was too thin for the wind at that address before quoting a replacement. Every address has an adopted design wind speed, and ADD holds that figure for every town it covers. Replacements often reuse the existing concrete base. Send a photo of it and they'll tell you.
American-made, with the paperwork. Every flag and pole ADD sells is made in the USA, and a certificate of domestic origin is available on request, which matters on federally funded projects. The aluminum poles come from Eder Flag of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, for which ADD is an authorized dealer. Its Flag Shop carries American flags sewn in the USA by American flag makers, in nylon and heavy-duty polyester, plus all fifty state flags, the six service flags and the POW-MIA flag. As of October 2026 the POW-MIA flag starts at $32.80 and state flags at $24.60, every order ships free, and the Winter Flag Sale (buy 2 flags, get 1 free) covers flags only.
One quote, prices in the open. For a new or replacement pole, ADD quotes the pole, foundation, flag and labor together, and manages the job from the first call to the flag going up. Their prices are on their website, with no login, and they supply and install in the 48 contiguous states.
Further reading
The Flag Code text is short and worth reading once: 4 U.S.C. 7 covers position and manner of display, including half-staff. Colonial Flag has a clear guide to when and how to fly at half-staff that walks through the durations for each kind of observance. Eder Flag's How to Fly the Flag page covers the same procedure alongside the other display rules.
Getting December 7 right takes a key, a rope you trust, and someone who's been told it's their job. Eighty-five years on, people still notice.