Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

U.S. Flags Lowered For Mandela, A Rare Honor For Foreign Leaders
NPR ^ | 12/6/13 | Emily Siner

Posted on 12/06/2013 2:44:02 PM PST by Jean S

After the death of Nelson Mandela, President Obama ordered that U.S. flags on government buildings be flown at half-staff until Monday evening — a symbolic gesture of a nation in mourning.

It's a tradition observed by countries around the world, one that began as early as the 17th century. Mental Floss reports:

"The oldest commonly accepted reference to a half-staff flag dates back to 1612, when the captain of the British ship Heart's Ease died on a journey to Canada. When the ship returned to London, it was flying its flag at half-mast to honor the departed captain."

Some scholars say this allows the "invisible flag of Death" to fly at the top of the pole.

In the U.S., President Dwight Eisenhower codified a set of rules in 1954 for when the flag must be flown at half-staff. (And yes, the U.S. calls it "half-staff," not "half-mast." You can use the term "half-mast" if you're in Canada or other locales or if you're in mourning on a boat.) They're largely formulaic: The death of a president merits 30 days; a vice-president, 10; a congressman, one to two.

The rules also allow the president to decide other periods of mourning when the half-staff is warranted. Most recently, Obama ordered the lowering of the flag to honor the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting and for the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination.

But it's uncommon for the U.S. flag to be lowered in honor of foreign leaders' deaths. Obama issued a statement of mourning earlier this year after the death of Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, but he didn't order the lowering of the American flag. In fact, the last foreign dignitary to be memorialized with the flag was Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Flags are also flying at half-mast in Mandela's honor in France, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Bermuda, Kenya and, of course, South Africa.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: flag; halfstaff; mandela; obama
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last
For an entire week! Margaret Thatcher didn't even get one day.
1 posted on 12/06/2013 2:44:02 PM PST by Jean S
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Jean S

WOW!!!

A Marxist POS from the ANC gets honored. Un friggen believable. But not really with the Marxist in the White Hut


2 posted on 12/06/2013 2:46:44 PM PST by Vaquero (Don't pick a fight with an old guy. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

Not surprised. Disgusted, but not surprised.


3 posted on 12/06/2013 2:47:03 PM PST by Jane Long (While Marxists continue the fundamental transformation of the USA, progressive RINOs assist!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

The more I watch Obama, the more he tries to mimic Mandela.


4 posted on 12/06/2013 2:49:12 PM PST by DownInFlames
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

Or any representatives of our government at her funeral. (shaking head in disgust)


5 posted on 12/06/2013 2:49:23 PM PST by Shimmer1 (don 't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S
Which flag? This one?

Or this one?


6 posted on 12/06/2013 2:53:41 PM PST by montag813 (NO AMNESTY * ENFORCE THE LAW * http://StandWithArizona.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S
i really expect nothing less from the mutt in the white hut... feh
7 posted on 12/06/2013 2:55:43 PM PST by Chode (Stand UP and Be Counted, or line up and be numbered - *DTOM* -vvv- NO Pity for the LAZY - 86-44)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S
"For an entire week! Margaret Thatcher didn't even get one day."

Obama is a filthy white-hating Communist. Mandela was right up his alley.

8 posted on 12/06/2013 2:56:04 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ((Support Christian white males----the architects of the jewel known as Western Civilization.))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

B I N G O !!

I felt personally violated when I saw the lowered flag at the Post Office today.

Have to expect it from this Commie-in-Chief.


9 posted on 12/06/2013 2:58:27 PM PST by lightman (O Lord, save Thy people and bless Thine inheritance, giving to Thy Church vict'ry o'er Her enemies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jane Long

Same here.


10 posted on 12/06/2013 3:00:05 PM PST by wally_bert (There are no winners in a game of losers. I'm Tommy Joyce, welcome to the Oriental Lounge.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: DownInFlames
The more I watch Obama, the more he tries to mimic Mandela.

He could start by spending 27 years in jail.

11 posted on 12/06/2013 3:01:09 PM PST by JohnG45
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

Not one day, not one minute! Most Blacks killed during apartheid were killed by, big surprise Blacks! And how many Whites were slaughtered under Mandela by, another big surprise, Blacks.


12 posted on 12/06/2013 3:01:56 PM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

The Kenyan hates the Brits, the former colonial power. It’s been obvious from the beginning when he returned the Churchill bust to Britain.


13 posted on 12/06/2013 3:02:24 PM PST by colorado tanker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S
"Freedom Fighter" and "Nobel Peace Prize winner"

This how the anti-Mandela folks celebrate him in SA.


14 posted on 12/06/2013 3:03:27 PM PST by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

They’ll do the same for Fidel when he descends into Hell. They never met a Marxist they didn’t love.


15 posted on 12/06/2013 3:03:42 PM PST by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed & water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS NOW & FOREVER!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Vaquero

If you can stomach it Google Image - “Necklacing”


16 posted on 12/06/2013 3:05:41 PM PST by Slyfox (Satan's goal is to rub out the image of God he sees in the face of every human.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: JohnG45
Let us remember the dead as a result of Nelson Mandela's MK/ANC terrorist activities. From Wikipedia:

Bombings[edit]

Landmark events in MK's military activity inside South Africa consisted of actions designed to intimidate the ruling power. In 1983, the Church Street bomb was detonated in Pretoria near the South African Air Force Headquarters, resulting in 19 deaths and 217 injuries. During the next 10 years, a series of bombings occurred in South Africa, conducted mainly by the military wing of the African National Congress.

In the Amanzimtoti bomb on the Natal South Coast in 1985, five civilians were killed and 40 were injured when MK cadre Andrew Sibusiso Zondo detonated an explosive in a rubbish bin at a shopping centre killing five people, including three children, shortly before Christmas. In a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the ANC stated that Zondo acted on orders after a recent SADF raid in Lesotho.[9]

A bomb was detonated in a bar on the Durban beach-front in 1986, killing three civilians and injuring 69. Robert McBride received the death penalty for this bombing which became known as the "Magoo's Bar bombing". Although the subsequent Truth and Reconciliation Committee called the bombing a "gross violation of human rights",[10] McBride received amnesty and became a senior police officer. In 1987, an explosion outside a Johannesburg court killed three people and injured 10; a court in Newcastle had been attacked in a similar way the previous year, injuring 24. In 1987, a bomb exploded at a military command centre in Johannesburg, killing one person and injuring 68 personnel.

The bombing campaign continued with attacks on a series of soft targets, including a bank in Roodepoort in 1988, in which four civilians were killed and 18 injured. Also in 1988, in a bomb detonation outside a magistrate's court killed three. At the Ellis Park rugby stadium in Johannesburg, a car bomb killed two and injured 37 civilians. A multitude[citation needed] of bombs in "Wimpy Bar" fast food outlets and supermarkets occurred during the late 1980s, killing and wounding many people. Wimpy were specifically targeted because of their perceived rigid enforcements of many Apartheid-era laws, including excluding people of colour from their restaurants. Several other bombings occurred, with smaller numbers of casualties. Landmine campaign[edit]

From 1985 to 1987, there also was a campaign to place anti-tank mines in rural roads in what was then the Northern Transvaal. This tactic was abandoned due to the high rate of civilian casualties—especially amongst black labourers. The ANC estimated 30 landmine explosions resulting in 23 deaths, while the government submitted a figure of 57 explosions resulting in 25 deaths.[11]

Torture and executions[edit]

The TRC found that torture was "routine" and was official policy – as were executions "without due process" at ANC detention camps particularly in the period of 1979–1989.[12]

Number of deaths[edit]

South African police statistics indicate that, in the period 1976 to 1986, approximately 130 people were killed by what the source calls 'terrorists'. Of these, about thirty were members of various security forces and one hundred were civilians. Of the civilians, 40 were white and 60 black.[17]


17 posted on 12/06/2013 3:06:55 PM PST by Jack Black ( Whatever is left of American patriotism is now identical with counter-revolution.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

I don’t fly my flag at all anymore. if I did it would be upside down.


18 posted on 12/06/2013 3:15:42 PM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: All armed conservatives.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Jane Long

me neither.
and I bet if Queen Elizabeth dies while this pos is in office, he won’t even attend the funeral.


19 posted on 12/06/2013 3:19:58 PM PST by ronniesgal (Martin Bashir!!!! You kiss your goat with that mouth???)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Jean S

African and especially Commy African blood is thicker than water.
Creepyass crackas owes it to em.

The night is darkest just before dawn. The end is coming.


20 posted on 12/06/2013 3:20:07 PM PST by X-spurt (CRUZ missile - armed and ready.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson