Flags in mourning in the United States: caskets, burial flags and honors

In the United States, the flag has a place of its own in mourning. It flies at half-staff after the death of national and state leaders, service members and first responders, it covers the casket of a veteran, and it is folded and handed to the family at a military funeral. The rules come from the Flag Code, veterans’ benefits law and the law on military funeral honors.

The flag on a casket

Under 4 U.S.C. § 7(n), when the flag is used to cover a casket, it is placed so that the union is at the head and over the left shoulder. The flag is not lowered into the grave and is not allowed to touch the ground. The Flag Code also states that the flag is never used as a covering for a statue or monument (§ 7(l)) or as drapery (§ 8(d)), so the casket is the one place where it is laid over an object.

The VA burial flag

Under 38 U.S.C. § 2301, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) furnishes a flag to drape the casket of each eligible veteran. According to the VA:

• the flag can drape a casket or be placed with an urn
• the next of kin or a close friend of the veteran applies for it
• the application, VA Form 27-2008, is brought to a funeral director, a VA regional office or a US post office; not every post office keeps burial flags
• the VA does not replace flags that are lost, destroyed or stolen

The eligibility rules cover, among others, veterans who served in wartime, who died on active duty after May 27, 1941, and veterans who served in peacetime and left the service before June 27, 1950, after at least one enlistment or because of a service-connected disability. The flag used for this purpose is wholly produced in the United States, which the law defines as grown, processed, manufactured and assembled in the United States, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Military funeral honors

Under 10 U.S.C. § 1491, the armed forces provide funeral honors for eligible veterans on request. The funeral honors detail consists of at least two members and performs, at a minimum, a ceremony that includes the folding of a United States flag, its presentation to the veteran’s family and the playing of Taps. If no bugler is part of the detail, a recorded version of Taps is played. According to the VA, the last page of VA Form 27-2008 shows how the flag is displayed and then folded at a memorial service.

The Flag Code itself does not describe how a flag is folded. The Senate document Our Flag describes the fold used in the United States: two people hold the flag waist high, fold it twice lengthwise, and then fold it in triangles from the striped end until only the triangular blue field is visible.

Gold Star and service flags

• Gold Star Mother’s Day, the last Sunday in September, is an observance on which Congress asks the President to call for the flag to be displayed on government buildings and at homes, as a public expression of the love, sorrow and reverence of the people for Gold Star Mothers (36 U.S.C. § 111).
• A service flag approved by the Secretary of Defense may be displayed in a window of the home of the immediate family of a person serving in the Armed Forces during any period of war or hostilities (36 U.S.C. § 901). Makers need a license, and making one without a license can bring a civil penalty.

After the funeral

According to the VA, a burial flag is protected from the weather by not leaving it outside for long periods, is displayed carefully so that it cannot be damaged, and has no words, symbols or drawings added to it. A flag in good condition can be donated to a national cemetery with an Avenue of Flags, where it may be flown on patriotic holidays. A flag in any condition can be given to a veterans service organization, which retires unserviceable flags. Under the Flag Code, a flag no longer fit for display is destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning (4 U.S.C. § 8(k)).

Half-staff for a local death

Businesses, schools and families often lower their flag after a local death. According to the Congressional Research Service, no federal restriction limits a private person from lowering their own flag. The rules for official half-staff orders are in the guide to half-staff, and the place of the flag among other flags in the guide to flag etiquette.