Death of Arlen Specter - 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 tied to interment

President Obama signed Proclamation 8890 in memory of Arlen Specter on October 15, 2012. The brief document establishes a national flag tribute without recounting Specter's biography. Its operative instruction ties half-staff display to the day of interment, ending at sunset that day.

That wording matters when reading an old notice. The formal proclamation date and the date it appeared in the Federal Register do not themselves establish the day of the flag tribute. This archive preserves the interment-day instruction as written and does not substitute a funeral date or assume a continuous mourning period from October 15 onward.

Locations named in the directive

The proclamation includes 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 applies to United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including military facilities and naval vessels and stations.

The source gives no numerical starting time and no calendar date for interment. The official text remains complete below so readers can see the precise conditions of the directive. October 15 is the formal document date used for this article; October 19 is the separate Federal Register publication date.

Full official proclamation text

Proclamation 8890 of October 15, 2012 — Death of Arlen Specter
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

As a mark of respect for the memory of Arlen Specter, I hereby order, by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and 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 period 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 fifteenth day of October, 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 64407. 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

Browse related historical notices 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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