By Ken Bridges, Texas History Minute
The flag has long been a great symbol of pride for the nation. For centuries, flags have been used as powerful symbols to not only inspire patriotism and a sense of community but also as a form of communicating triumph or tragedy. In 2025, Americans saw the Stars and Stripes symbolically lowered to half-staff several times as a sign of mourning. This show of respect is part of American naval traditions dating early into the nation’s history.
While flags are most widely used as symbols of nations, states, cities, and even military units, businesses, and athletic teams, they can have far more uses. Flags have long been used by ships to communicate with one another for a variety of reasons. Before the age of radio, flags would identify ships at long distances as either friend or foe, as the voice is often no match for the sea. Even close up, the sound of shouting would be eclipsed by the roar of the waves.
British Captain Frederick Marryat developed his Code of Signals in 1817 using flags of different shapes and colors to signal other ships. This became the standard system before the International Code of Signals was adopted in 1857. The International Code of Signals has undergone many revisions since that time to simplify the system. Another code, the flag semaphore code, was developed in 1866 and used two flags held at various angles to send messages between ships or between ships and the shore. The system is still used by the navy and by civilian sailors today.
The tradition of flying a flag at half-mast began with a British ship in 1612. The captain of the Heart’s Ease had died, and the crew lowered the flag half-way down the mast as a show of mourning and respect. Other ships throughout the British Empire began following the tradition, including American colonial ships. The lowering of the flag represented symbolically making room for an invisible “flag of death.”
When President George Washington died in 1799, the U. S. Navy ordered flags on all ships to be lowered to half-mast to mourn the Father of the Country. The tradition continued for many decades.
Other important symbols for flags emerged over time. Historians noted that in both China and the Roman Empire, the white flag was seen as a symbol of surrender since the second century AD. The use of the white flag spread across Europe in the Middle Ages as surrender or offers to negotiate as it stood out in contrast to brightly-colored military or royal flags. In naval traditions, simply lowering all flags became an accepted symbol of surrender by the late 1700s, known as “striking the colors.” In 1899, the Hague Convention, a meeting of diplomats from around the world and including the United States, declared that the white flag would become an international symbol of surrender, thus firing on surrendering troops was considered illegal under international law.
Flying the flag upside down similarly originated during the American colonial era. Flying the flag upside down became a quick way to signal to other ships or the shore that the ship was in immediate danger, such as from fire or sinking or collision with an iceberg or sandbar. Though it is meant as a sign that someone is in imminent danger, its use as a distress signal has long been adapted as a sign of political protest as well.
Over time, confusion over how to display the flag emerged. To ensure that the United States flag is displayed with the proper respect, Congress first passed the Flag Code in 1923. During World War II, the updated United States Flag Code became federal law. The modern flag code emerged in 1954 that included rules on when the flag is to be lowered, with a number of modifications made since that time. Under the flag code, it is considered improper to use it to carry or deliver anything, use it as clothing, or use it in advertising. If a flag should become torn or tattered, it should be retired. The flag should never be dipped to any person or other flag. Since no flag can fly above the American flag, state flags are also to be lowered in a time of mourning when the Stars and Stripes is lowered.
Typically, the flag is to be lowered for thirty days after the death of a current or former president, for ten days after the death of a vice-president, for the day of death and the day after for a member of Congress, on Memorial Day until noon, and on September 11. The president can also make a proclamation that the flag be lowered in honor of a prominent figure or a specific occasion, such as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. During this time, the flag is to be brought fully up the flag pole first before being lowered to half-staff. Governors can order flags to be lowered in their states when a member of the armed forces from their state has died.
In 2025, Americans saw the flag lowered after the deaths of former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice-President Dick Cheney. Many other nations have their own traditions and laws regarding the lowering of their flags. In days of joy or sorrow, the American flag is a symbol for which Americans and the world always take notice.