Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Aurora, Colorado - Historical Half-Staff Archive

Historical notice: this observance has ended. This independent FORTISVEX resource preserves a past presidential directive; it is not a government notice.

A national mark of respect for Aurora's victims

President Obama signed Proclamation 8842 on July 20, 2012, honoring the victims of violence in Aurora, Colorado, that same day. The document is brief and focused: it establishes a national flag tribute rather than recounting the attack or identifying individual victims.

Unlike an annual commemorative proclamation, this was a directive for a specific tragedy and a defined mourning period. Preserving that distinction matters when reading historical flag notices. The order recorded here ended in July 2012; it is not a recurring instruction or a current half-staff notice.

Where the directive applied

The proclamation ordered half-staff display at the White House, public buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, and federal naval vessels in the District of Columbia, throughout the United States, and in its territories and possessions. The same period applied at United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

Its endpoint was sunset on July 25, 2012. The document gave no numerical starting time. The July 20 formal date is used for this archive entry; the Federal Register published the proclamation on July 25, the same calendar date as the endpoint. That publication date does not mean the mourning directive began only on July 25.

The full wording below lets readers distinguish the locations expressly named in the directive from assumptions about other properties. The official PDF preserves the signed proclamation as published.

Full official proclamation text

Proclamation 8842 of July 20, 2012 — Honoring the Victims of the Tragedy in Aurora, Colorado
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence perpetrated on July 20, 2012, in Aurora, Colorado, by the authority vested in me as President of the United States by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I hereby order that the flag of the United States shall be flown at half-staff at the White House and upon all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions until sunset, July 25, 2012. I also direct that the flag shall be flown at half-staff for the same length of time at all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

Official federal proclamation text from Federal Register page 43703. Page headings and line wrapping are omitted for readability; the signature is represented by the name above.

Verify the official documents

Read or download the official proclamation PDF from GovInfo · Read the Federal Register record

Find related historical directives in the Presidential Half-Staff Archive.

Signature page from the official published proclamation

Select the published page to open the official PDF.

Preparing a remembrance display

Explore U.S. flags at FORTISVEX when choosing a flag for your location. Review the specific product's material, size, and attachment details for a suitable display.