Post Office Half-Staffing Policy

Question: I am a 65 year old Vietnam vet. I try to respect and protect our US flag in a helpful and courteous way. I have often mentioned your website as a place to learn and purchase flags. If I see a tattered flag, I stop and offer to have her disposed of by my post. I see the herky jerky up and down half staffing done to our flags by the well meaning public and it saddens me. On a recent occasion, my local Post Office in NJ half staffed the US Flag and I called to see the reason. It seems it was in error in NJ as the Postmaster General had ordered the US Flags lowered in Pennsylvania ONLY as a member of the USPS Board of Governors had died in that state. I then asked the question of whether the USPS followed the US Flag Code on such matters. After four months of email's to the USPS customer service web site, I rec'd an answer from my LOCAL Post Office. It quoted an USPS Administrative manual that says: 472.233 part b. "the heads of governments agencies may direct that the flag may be flown at half-staff on buildings, grounds, etc. under their jurisdiction on occasions other than those specified which they consider proper. The VP of Corporate Relations notifies area, district and plant managers by either broadcast fax or electronic mail of such an order. They, in turn, notify the heads of all postal facilities reporting to them". In MY interpretation of the code, a federal agency (Is the USPS a Federal agency?) should follow the code to the letter. Under the code the person they honored would not be a "principal figure". I guess the key question is, Is the USPS a Federal agency? Do they have to follow the US Flag Code? The USPS shows more US flags than any place in our country. They are the signal to the average US citizen that our nation is in mourning, as that signal, they should ALWAYS follow the US Flag Code. Thanks Answer: Thanks for your thoughtful letter. You have not asked me a direct question. But my guess is that you want to know if I think the USPS should be half staffing its flag upon occasions not otherwise mentioned in The Flag Code. The answer is yes. Keep in mind that PUBLIC LAW 94 - 344 states The Flag Code " is hereby, established for the use of such civilians or civilian groups or organizations as may not be required to conform with regulations promulgated by one or more executive departments of the Government of the United States." A governmental agency may indeed have its own regulations pertaining to flag display that may differ from The Flag Code. If the USPS is half staffing the flag in situations that follow its own regulations it is not violating The Flag Code. If your post office is following USPS regulations which, for it, take precedence over The Flag Code, then it is correct. I am no judge on whether your post office was correctly following its own regulations. However, The Flag Code is a guide for civilians. It is not always a guide for governmental agencies which may have more specific regulations. Does this information help?