What does it mean to lower the U.S. flag?

• Lowering the U.S. flag means to bring it down from the peak of a flag pole, either to the bottom, where one can access it to fold it and store it away, or to the pole's mid-point, which is also known as "half-staff" if the flag is on land or "half-mast" if it is at sea.
  
  

When to lower it

• The rules state to lower the flag at sunset unless there are lights surrounding the pole to illuminate the flag at night. If the flag is scheduled to fly at half-staff or half-mast, there are procedures with regard to time of day and how to properly lower the flag. See "Half-staff procedures."
  
  

Standard procedures

• After lowering the flag at the end of the day, fold it in half twice, width-wise, and then continue to fold it in corners starting with the stripes end. When you're finished, the folded flag should be in the shape of a triangle. It's best for two people do this to prevent the flag from touching the ground or the floor.
  
  

Half-staff days

• The Patriotic Customs Code requires flying the flag at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Peace Officers Memorial Day (May 15), Patriot Day (September 11) and Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (December 11). On Memorial Day, the flag flies at half-staff from sunrise until noon.
  
  

Half-staff procedure

• Raise the flag to its peak for an instant and then lower it to the pole's mid-point. When it is time to bring the flag down for the day, raise it to its peak for an instant then lower it completely to fold it.
  
  

Other days for flying at half-staff

• The U.S. president and state governors are the only public officials who can authorize when a flag flies at half-staff. The Code says to fly the flag at half-staff to honor recently deceased government officials. This includes flying the flag at half-staff for 30 days after the death of a president or former president; for 10 days after the death of a vice president, the existing or a retired U.S. Supreme Court chief justice or the speaker of the house; until the burial of a Supreme Court justice, secretary of defense, a former vice president or the governor of a state, territory, or possession; and the day of and the day after the death of a Congressional member.