After some controversy over whether flags should fly at full-staff on Inauguration Day, President Donald Trump issued an executive order on the topic Monday.
In one of his first actions as president, Trump signed an order requiring flags to fly at full-staff on Inauguration Day, superseding any previous orders to lower flags.
“By the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in honor of Inauguration Day and everything good and noble that it represents about our Nation, our people, and our form of Government, I hereby order that, on this and all future Inauguration Days, the flag of the United States shall be flown at full-staff,” Trump said in his order.
The debate had raged in recent days as flags flew at half-staff in honor of the life and legacy of former President Jimmy Carter, who died at the age of 100 in late December.
In accordance with U.S. flag code, flags were directed to be flown at half-staff for a period of 30 days after the death of the former president, meaning they would’ve been at half-staff for Trump’s inauguration.
The president had taken issue with the appearance of the flags, arguing that Democrats were “giddy” about the idea of flags being at half-staff during his inauguration.
Governors from at least 28 states had later directed flags to be flown at full-staff for the inauguration, as had House Speaker Mike Johnson, who issued the order for the U.S. Capitol to display flags at full-staff.
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All of those orders, along with Trump’s executive order, will see flags returned to half-staff to continue honoring Carter for the remainder of the month.
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