**Hoisting** is the act of raising a flag from the foot of the staff to its display position. Protocol requires that a flag be hoisted briskly, in contrast to the slow ceremonial lowering at the end of the day. A flag to be flown at half-staff is first hoisted briskly to the truck and only then lowered to the half-staff position; this preserves the ceremonial form even when the final position is one of mourning.
**Example**: At morning colours, the ensign is hoisted smartly to the truck on the first stroke of eight bells.
**See also**: [lowering](/glossary/lowering/), [halyard](/glossary/halyard/), [full-staff](/glossary/full-staff/), [sunrise-to-sunset-rule](/glossary/sunrise-to-sunset-rule/)