Death of Neil Armstrong - 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 flag tribute to Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon during Apollo 11 in 1969. He died on August 25, 2012, at age 82. President Obama's proclamation two days later honored his memory with a flag tribute tied specifically to his interment.

NASA's account of the burial at sea records that Armstrong's cremated remains were committed to the Atlantic Ocean aboard USS Philippine Sea on September 14, 2012. That record establishes the interment date separately from the August 27 proclamation and its August 30 publication in the Federal Register.

What the proclamation required

The directive specified half-staff display on the day of interment until sunset. It did not order a continuous period beginning August 27, nor did it establish an annual observance. The full text names the White House, public buildings and grounds, military posts, naval stations, and federal naval vessels throughout the United States and its territories and possessions. Specified United States facilities abroad were included for the same period.

For readers researching historical flag instructions, the key distinction is the event that triggers the display: interment. This archive uses the formal document date for the article date while identifying the later burial day in the explanation above. The proclamation does not give a numerical starting hour.

Full official proclamation text

Proclamation 8849 of August 27, 2012 — Death of Neil Armstrong
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As a mark of respect for the memory of Neil Armstrong, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, that on the day of his interment, 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 on such day. 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 twenty-seventh day of August, 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 53139. 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

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