At the request of the Prime Minister, the Right
Honourable Christopher Luxon, the New Zealand Flag is to be
flown at half-mast on all Government and public buildings on
Saturday 26 April 2025 to mark the funeral
of His Holiness Pope Francis. The Flag should be returned to
full mast at 5pm on Saturday 26 April 2025 (or close of
building hours on that day).
This instruction applies
to all Government Departments, buildings and naval vessels
which have flag poles and normally fly the New Zealand
Flag.
The flag is half-masted by first raising it to
the top of the mast and then immediately lowering it slowly
to the half-mast position. The half-mast position will
depend on the size of the flag and the length of the
flagpole. The flag must be lowered to a position
recognisably “half-mast” to avoid the appearance of a flag
which has accidentally fallen away from the top of the
flagpole. As a guide, the flag should be more than its own
depth from the top of the flagpole. At the end of the day,
the flag should be raised again to the top of the flagpole
before being fully lowered.
For more information about
half-masting the flag, visit http://www.mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/flags/half-masting-new-zealand-flag.
If
you have any questions, please email national.symbols@mch.govt.nz.
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
