Biden orders flags flown at half-staff then orders them back up, as two events collide Matt Viser President Biden initially ordered flags on Saturday to be flown at half-staff. Then he ordered them back up at full-staff. It’s because of a quirk that comes up every half dozen years or so, when a day that honors two groups collides with two different protocols for the American flag. For Peace Officers Memorial Day, which falls on May 15, flags are supposed to be at half-staff. But the third Saturday in May is marked to honor Armed Forces Day and on that day, flags are supposed to be full-staff.
N.H. Gov. Sununu insists Biden disrespected police with flag directive
“New Hampshire will continue to honor the men and women who have died or been injured in the line of duty by flying flags at half staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day as we have always done, and as is right,” he said. In this Nov. 3, 2020 file photograph, N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu wears a protective mask, due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak, at a polling station in Windham, N.H. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
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CONCORD, N.H. (AP) New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says President Joe Biden showed disrespect to law enforcement by not explaining why flags should not be lowered for Peace Officers Memorial Day.
May 15, 2021 12:40 pm
(Photo courtesy Facebook/Chris Sununu)
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu says President Joe Biden showed disrespect to law enforcement by not explaining why flags should not be lowered for Peace Officers Memorial Day.
Biden issued a proclamation Monday calling for flags to be lowered to half-staff Saturday in honor of federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have died or been injured in the line of duty. But in an updated proclamation Friday, Biden said flags should remain at full-staff.
Sununu issued a statement Friday night calling the reversal “shocking” and “disrespectful” to law enforcement and their families and saying New Hampshire would lower its flags.
“New Hampshire will continue to honor the men and women who have died or been injured in the line of duty by flying flags at half staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day as we have always done, and as is right,” he said.
However, this year the day honoring peace officers coincides with Armed Forces Day, held on the third Saturday in May. And according to the U.S. flag code, “The flag shall be flown at half-staff on Peace Officers Memorial Day, unless that day is also Armed Forces Day.”
Sununu said Saturday he also stands with the nation’s armed forces and agrees that it is appropriate to thank them for the service.