Half-Staffing When No One is Available on Weekends/Holidays

Question: I have a question on proper flag etiquette. When the flag is supposed to be flown at half-staff on a day such as Pearl Harbor Day that falls on a weekend, we do not have employees available to come to work to place the flag at half-staff. I have been asked to research if it is better/worse to leave the flag at full-staff or to have the flag taken down on Friday so it is not flown at all. I have been unable to find an answer to this question. Do you have any guidance on this issue? Any assistance or direction you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your time. P.H. Answer: You can do what the United States Postal Service does. Put the flag to half staff when you close on Friday and put it back to full staff when you come back in on Monday. Your flag will be at half-staff longer than is actually called for. I make that decision based on the May 13 2021 issue of USPS NEWS LINK, a daily news site for Postal Service employees: "Facilities that fly the flag at all times and are closed Memorial Day should lower the flag to half-staff when the facility closes prior to the holiday. Return the flag to full staff when the facility opens Tuesday, June 1." The site seems to publish this same advisory each year because I found the exact same rule in the May 2019 issue This determination by the Postal Service on how to handle a practical issue of flag protocol is an example of the judgment calls that need to be made when The Flag Code gives no answer. If we are to rely on only the information provided in The Flag Code, it is a question that has no clear answer. Half-Staff days often fall on a holiday or a weekend. The Flag Code is silent on the matter. First take a look at my general description of what The Flag Code is and what it is not. You will see that it does not attempt to anticipate every situation and that it is a collection of guidelines that are advisory in nature. As such, I do not see how anyone one can with authority say that either response is right or wrong. But you ask which is better or worse. It would be nice if The Code contained that level of detail to where it would simply tell us if it is worse to let the flag fly full staff or to strike it for sometimes three full days at a time and thereby deprive your community and our society of the benefit it provides by being there. One might reformulate the question to ask if is better for a community or for our society to be without your flag for up to three days than to have it full staff. The Flag Code does not guide us in that manner. We are left to our own on this matter and I think you have to go with your own comfort level. Is it worse to invite the criticism of someone who objects to seeing the flag fly at full staff until noon on Memorial Day or is it worse not to fly the flag at all? Surely, it would be safer not to fly it at all. Is that better? Some might try to say that your agency or company should bear the expense, order an employee to come in on a Sunday or holiday, and pay whatever extra cost is needed. Nation wide there are 1,400 Social Security offices, 37,000 post offices, and 105,000 K-12 schools. Add to these numbers all the town halls, village halls, federal court houses, county court houses, state highway garages, federal departments of this that and the other thing, and hundreds of thousands of other types of government agencies. Surely thousands of them fly the flag 24 hours. Can it be that we send out an army of employees a half-million strong on the morning of a half-staffing day where they half staff the flag and then wait there until noon or until days end to put it back to full staff? I just don't think we do that. I also have a hunch that there is no standardization throughout all these levels of government as to how they handle their own flags in the instance you are researching. Take a look at my essay under the Pearl Harbor section above. You will see that federal agencies struggle with the same problem. It is admirable that you seek to do the most respectful thing by your flag. Sometimes I find it helpful to ask "if the flag could speak, what would she say?" Remember, the spirit of The Flag Code is to encourage people to treat the flag with respect. Would she tell you "I know you appreciate me and take care of me. I think we all agree that I belong out in the breeze and not hiding in a box. So even if I can not participate in a particular display of homage, I would still rather be out there showing my colors and my support. I can still do a lot of good for all who see me." Or would she tell you "if I can not fully participate in that event on Sunday, I just don't even want to be there all weekend." Each of us must decide for ourselves what the flag would say. Would it be better if nation wide, millions of flags were not to fly for two or three whole days if their owners could not be there to half staff them? For the record, I will tell you that I do not strike my flag when I can not be there to half staff it. Remember, when The President issues a half-staff proclamation, he "urges" or "asks" private citizens to participate. Remember, The Flag Code is advisory in nature and these questions sometimes require the wisdom of Solomon. Were you to encounter criticism, as I suspect you already have, you might be able to explain your decision and the intention behind it. Some people would listen and then understand that there is no one answer to this matter to be found in The Flag Code.