The first time I remember flags at half-mast was after the shootings at Columbine in 1998 (I was living in that area of CO back then). The second time I remember was three years later in 2001.

I thought back then that this only happened for community-shattering events. Everyone in that are of Colorado was affected. Everyone in the U.S. was affected.

These days I've basically given up on even being able to find out why any particular flag has been lowered, because more often than not, it's just an isolated flag. I wish places that did it routinely had some sort of additional code system. Like, if fire departments want to lower flags to recognize the deaths of firefighters, it would help if there was a small secondary flag or something to help distinguish, "Someone from our department has died," vs. "Someone at another department nearby has died," vs. "Lots of people at a department far away died." I appreciate the expression of solidarity with their fallen comrades in any case. It would just be nice to be able to know which kind it is, or if it's something else entirely.

Typically, the American flag flies at half-staff or at half-mast when the country or a state is in mourning. The president or a state governor (or D.C. Mayor) can order flags to fly at half-staff. In most cases, an American flag flying at half-staff marks one of three observances: - The death of a government official, military member, or emergency first responder - A national tragedy - Memorial Day or another national day of remembrance

Back in 1954, President Eisenhower issued a proclamation on the display of the flag, 19 FR 1235, 3 CFR. Whether everyone follows that is another matter.

I don't doubt that those are the official rules, but these days anybody with a flagpole apparently flies it at half mast whenever they're sad (or sometimes angry) about something. That's why it's gotten confusing.

> Imagine if either Biden or Trump died

Please don't give me false hope like this

> It's a hard problem

Stop calling everything a hard problem. It's not a hard problem if it's irrelevant.