half-staff vs half-mast
Definitions
noun
- a position some distance below the top of a mast to which a flag is lowered in mourning or to signal distress
Examples
The flag in her memory is now being flown at half-staff over the US Congress.
I believe that only the President may order flags flown at half-staff on Federal installations.
The blue United Nations flag with its white map of the world was lowered to half-staff.
Definitions
noun
- a position some distance below the top of a mast to which a flag is lowered in mourning or to signal distress
Examples
Flags flew at half-mast, pundits pontificated, and Americans watched replay after replay of airplanes flying into the World Trade Center.
This morning, I shopped for a keyboard stand for my new iPal, learned how to use Pages, and e-mailed an animated love story involving octopi to my dad, all while my eyelids were still at half-mast.
Federal officials and foreign consuls indicated their respect for the former president partly by lowering their flags to half-mast.
