When did the tradition of flying a flag at half-mast as a form of mourning start?

Similar questions: tradition flying flag half mast form mourning start.

Here's what I was able to find about it According to Flags of the World’s website, the first known use of the term “half mast” occurred in Canada in 1612, context unknown. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Captain Smith first used the term in writing in 1637 in Seaman’s Grammar. The term is synonymous with “half staff” and denotes a flag flying lower than the top of the mast or staff.

According to Wikipedia, the practice started “to allow the invisible flag of death to fly on top of the mast, thus signifying death’s presence, power, and prominence. ” At first the regular flag was flown only a flag’s-width below the top of the mast, but in modern times it’s flown nearer to the half-way point. It appears to have started off as a way to announce a death, evolved into a way of showing grief, and then to honoring the dead.

There is much more detail on the practice at Flags of the World’s website: crwflags.com/fotw/flags/xf-half.html#origin Link to Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_mast Sources: Links cited above and my (c) 1971 copy of the Oxford English Dictionary SharonW's Recommendations Flags at Sea: A Guide to the Flags Flown at Sea by Ships of the Major Maritime Nations, from the 16th Century to the Present Day, Illustrated from the Collections Amazon List Price: $25.95 Used from: $6.24 .

Long ago, undocumented as to actually started it The tradition of flying the flag at half-mast began centuries ago to allow the invisible flag of death to fly on top of the mast, thus signifying death's presence, power, and prominence. In some countries, for example the UK, and especially in military contexts, a "half-staff" flag is still flown exactly one flag's width down from its normal position, and no lower, in order to allow for this flag of death. This was the original flag etiquette.

However, with larger flags on shorter hoists on many public buildings, the practice of actual half-staff has become common, especially outside the UK, where it is now standard to fly the flag at halfway up the mast regardless of the size of the flag or hoist. Sources: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-staff .

They Are Here (Texas) And No One Seems To Know Why.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.