**Half-staff** is the position of a flag flown lowered from the truck of the staff, conventionally to a point one flag-depth below the top, as a sign of mourning, distress or respect. The American term ‘half-staff’ is generally used for flags on land; ‘half-mast’ is reserved at sea. To half-staff a flag, it is first hoisted briskly to the truck and then lowered slowly to the half-staff position.
**Example**: In the United States, flags are flown at half-staff on Memorial Day until noon, then raised to full-staff for the remainder of the day.
**See also**: [half-mast](/glossary/half-mast/), [full-staff](/glossary/full-staff/), [lowering](/glossary/lowering/), [hoisting](/glossary/hoisting/)