Flags to fly at half mast until morning after Queen’s funeral
The Union flag on Buckingham Palace was at half mast on Thursday.
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Your support makes all the difference.Flags will fly at half mast on UK Government buildings in tribute to the Queen from now until the morning after her funeral.
Following the Queen’s death on Thursday, guidance was issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the flying of official flags.
All such flags, which include Union Flags and any national flag, are to be “half masted on all UK government buildings as soon as possible today until 0800 the day following the Queen’s state funeral”, the department said.
It advises that any non-official flags, which include for example the rainbow flag or Armed Forces flag, should be taken down and replaced with a Union Flag flying at half mast.
The Union flag on Buckingham Palace was at half mast on Thursday while a framed plaque announcing the Queen’s death was placed on the front gates by royal household staff.
Similarly, flags at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh were lowered to half mast, along with those at the Scottish Parliament and at Scottish Government buildings.
Half mast means that flags are flown a third of the way down the flagpole, with at least the height of the flag between the top of the flag and the top of the pole.
The Royal Standard is never flown at half mast, even after the Queen’s death, as there is always a monarch on the throne – with the role passing to her son the King.