when does the flag at the white house fly at half mast
Half-mast In the United States, the President can issue an executive order for the flag of the United States to be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States government and others, as a mark of respect to their memory. When such an order is issued, all government buildings, offices, public schools, and military bases are to fly their flags at half-staff. Under federal law (4 U.S.C. § 7(f)), the flags of states, cities, localities, and pennants of societies, shall never be placed above the flag of the United States; thus, all other flags also fly at half-staff when the U.S. flag has been ordered to fly at half-staff. There is no penalty for failure to comply with the above law as to enforce such a penalty would violate the First Amendment.[citation needed]
Modern display of the Confederate flag The Confederate battle flag was raised over the State House on April 11, 1961 at the request of Representative John May,[citation needed] ostensibly as a part of opening celebrations of the Confederate War Centennial, according to Dr. Daniel Hollis, an appointed member of the centennial commission. Many historians point out that the appearance of the flag likely had a more nefarious purpose: to symbolize Southern defiance in the face of a burgeoning Civil Rights Movement. In March 1962, lawmakers passed a resolution directing the flag be flown over the State House.[74][75][76] As Time magazine later noted, the move was "a statesâ€™-rights rebuff to desegregation."[77]