02-18-2012, 10:31 PM
Grace62 wrote:
Fellow flag geeks: Christie is in violation of the US flag code in ordering the flag lowered for a celebrity. It's protocol only, but I think it's a little sad that a high ranking American government executive thinks this little of the flag code and of the symbolism behind the half-staff tradition.
This in no way diminishes the contributions of Whitney Houston, but soldiers and police officers killed in the line of duty don't get Grammy awards, singers have not earned an official half-staff flag salute.
As a fellow flag geek, you are wrong. As governor it is authorized under the flag code. To quote the material mattkime did from wikipedia again:
Governors of the several U.S. states or territories are authorized by federal law to order all U.S. and state flags in their jurisdiction flown at half-staff as a mark of respect for a state official or resident who has died. Since a governor's executive order affects only his or her state, not the entire country, these orders are distinguished from presidential proclamations.
That is straight from US Code. As a person familiar with flag etiquette, most persons get it wrong. I first ran into this back in Scouts over 40 years ago, times have not changed. The hidden site URL included in your post when I used the quoting function also gets it wrong. They may disagree with who gets honored this way, but it was entirely in the governor's prerogative to do so.
http://www.ushistory.org/BETSY/news/njl021612.htm (URL unhidden)