Why are flags at half-mast today in Adelaide

Have you ever seen a flag flying at half-mast and wondered why?

Every now and then, flags around the city are lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning and respect, but unless you're a vexillologist (flag specialist), you might not have a clue why or how to find out.

ABC News in Sydney was prompted to look into this after a Curious Sydney question from Gillian Wood: "How can we find out why flags are at half-mast on any given day?"

Gillian works for the New South Wales Government in a building right next to the Central Station Clock Tower.

"My office overlooks the flagpole or the tower at the Central Station Clock Tower and the flag is beautiful, it's in the centre of our window at work and when it's at half mast we can't ever tell what's going on," she said.

"We know that on days such as Anzac Day or major funerals it made sense, but there were days we never seemed to be able to work out who or why it was happening."

Gillian, a former librarian who is quite used to being able to find things out, found it frustrating and intriguing.

"I searched online, I searched through government sites because I presumed that since Central Railway is a government building there would be a government site, but I couldn't find anything," she said.

"Various people had turns at thinking they could find it so they'd look somewhere else, and we all just drew blanks. So the more we looked the more intriguing it became."

Why do we need to know?

Usually it's when big events happen that the state government requests government buildings fly flags at half-mast, such as the death of cricketer Phillip Hughes, or after the Lindt Cafe siege.

But you don't have to look too far for stories in the media asking why flags are at half-mast when someone lesser-known has died, for example, when the President of Vanuatu, Baldwin Lonsdale, died on June 17, 2017.

One tweet read: "Hi Premier. Why are the flags on the Harbour Bridge at half-mast today?" Another read: "Captain announces on ferry this morning: 'Just noticed the flags on the harbour bridge are at half-mast, a notable person must have died'".

But while social media often lights up with questions like this, it's not that easy to find out the answer.

Ms Wood believes it would be good if the public could find the information more easily.

"I think it's important, it would be good for the people of NSW to know why our government is recognising or what it is recognising, and particularly if it's lesser known people who are having a funeral that would be good to know too," she said.

How to find out why a flag is half-mast

Vexillographer John Vaughan has designed and studied flags for many years.

"It's not easy until you find the answer — and the answer is relatively simple," he said.

"There is a Commonwealth Flag Network and the Commonwealth flag officer and he issues messages for all the half-masting. You can become a member of the Commonwealth Flag Network and get the information directly to your computer.

"And that's also replicated to a minor extent in NSW with the Department of Premier and Cabinet."

The decision to fly flags at half-mast anywhere in Australia is at the direction of the Commonwealth Government, and because it's a matter of protocol, there are rules about how and when to raise and lower the flag correctly.

A Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet website, titled Australian National Flag Protocols, says: "As one of Australia's most important symbols, the flag should be used with respect and dignity."

"When lowering the flag from a half-mast position it should be briefly raised to the peak and then lowered ceremoniously. The flag should never be flown at half-mast at night even if it is illuminated," the website said.

The NSW Government said the easiest way to find out about flag movements is to go to the State Flags website, run by Protocol NSW, a government department.

There's a list of special occasions for flying flags, and the website also encourages anyone interested in flag movements to subscribe to the NSW Flag Network.

"By joining the network, you will be the first to be notified via email with the latest flag protocol for special occasions such as ANZAC Day, or on occasions when flags should be half-mast," the NSW Government said.

Local government can also fly flags at half-mast when someone of local importance dies, or on the day of their funeral.

Flags on iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge

Roads and Maritime Services [RMS] asset manager and flag marshal, Peter Mann, invited Curious Sydney and Gillian Wood to the Sydney Harbour Bridge to explain how things work there.

He said it's intriguing how many flag spotters around Sydney Harbour watch its movements to find out what's happening.

"Because Sydney Harbour Bridge is such an iconic structure it does play a special role, not only in representing the voice of NSW but also at a national level," he said.

"We're quite often asked to hoist flags that represent the thoughts of Australia generally."

There are two flag poles on the bridge, one with the Australian flag flying permanently 24 hours a day.

But the NSW flag is lowered and replaced on special days such as the National Apology Day, when the Aboriginal flag is hoisted instead.

Mr Mann admits that information about the bridge's flag movements is not readily available to the public but he hopes that will change.

"Presently we're looking at having a commentary on flag movements on our social media site. That's the idea at the moment, and from the feedback we've had from Gillian and the ABC I think it will happen," he said.

Mr Mann hopes that the RMS will soon be able to inform the public about flag movements on its Facebook page.

"We are not currently looking at posting about all flag movements on the NSW Roads Facebook page," a spokesman for the RMS said.

"But we will on a case-by-case basis determine whether to post about the flag movements on the Sydney Harbour Bridge."

Gillian is excited at the prospect of a more open system of notifying the public.

"Obviously if there's information going out to organisations to tell them to fly flags at half-mast it would be great if it [also] went out on twitter and Facebook," she said.

"Because then everybody would know the reason for the flags flying, and also the fact that as a city we're mourning or we're recognising some sad event that's happened around the world or around our city or town."

Why are flags flown at half-mast?

• Flags are flown at half-mast for State Funerals, State Memorials, funerals of Heads of State of other countries
• Nov 11: Remembrance Day – Flags are flown at full-mast from 8:00am to 10:30am, lowered to half-mast until 11:02am and then raised to full-mast for the rest of the day
• April 25: ANZAC Day – Flags flown at half-mast from dawn until noon then full-mast for the remainder of the day
• October 12: NSW Terrorism and Homicide Victims Remembrance Day - flags are flown at half-mast from dawn until dusk
• September 29: National Police Remembrance Day - consideration given to half-mast flags all day

The tradition of lowering flags to half-mast is believed to originate from the high seas.

Sailing ships would lower their sails as a sign of respect or honour for an important person, but eventually only the ship's flags were lowered, the Australian War Memorial said.

"Thus slowing the vessel and allowing for the VIP's own vessel to come alongside and for him to board if so desired. Lowering of sails was also used to honour VIPs who were reviewing a naval procession from the land," it said.

In early days, sailing ships lowered the flag to allow space for the 'invisible black flag of death' to fly above the national or state flag, Mr Vaughan said.

"It's been so for a long, long time, probably from when chivalry and the importance of flying flags became apparent and written down too so that it became a universal etiquette to lower your flags in a mark of respect," he said.

A national symbol

On days like Australia Day it becomes clear that the Australian flag and what happens with it is very important to many in the community, but also controversial.

Mr Vaughan believes there's an obligation to educate Australians about what the flag represents, and he would like the media to provide more information when flags are at half-mast.

"The Australian national flag is our national symbol — it belongs to you and me. We treat it with respect because it's the respect we should show to our fellow Australians," he said.

"Generally it's not regarded as a matter of great importance by most of the media outlets so maybe we could give them a hint and say please let us know why the flags are at half-mast."

Who asked the question.

Gillian Wood works for the NSW Government in a building at Sydney's Central Station.

Her work office window faces straight out on to the Central Clock Tower, where a flag flies every day.

But when it flies at half-mast or half-staff, she has found it impossible to find out why, on days when it's not obvious such as Anzac Day or Apology Day.

"Isn't that one of the wonderful things about Sydney though, there are these small things that remain mysteries until somebody digs around and finds an answer," she said.

"I love that the answer is often a really elegant or interesting or quirky one."

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