Has any US president ordered flags to be flown at half mast for a celebrity or athlete?
Executive summary
Yes: presidents have ordered flags at half‑staff for non‑governmental figures, including at least one high‑profile conservative activist in 2025—Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk—when President Donald Trump ordered flags lowered nationwide after Kirk’s death [1] [2]. The flag code gives the president broad authority to order half‑staff for “other officials, former officials, or foreign dignitaries” and by custom for other notable figures; statutory mandatory periods exist only for certain public officials (presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, etc.) [3] [4].
1. Presidential authority: broad but codified exceptions
The U.S. Flag Code gives the president clear authority to order flags at half‑staff beyond the statutory, mandatory periods—for example, to mark the death of “other officials, former officials, or foreign dignitaries” or by proclamation for events the president designates—so a president can lawfully lower flags for a private citizen if he so chooses [3] [5].
2. Statutory, automatic periods are limited to public officeholders
Federal law prescribes fixed half‑staff durations for specific public offices: 30 days for a president or former president, 10 days for a vice president and certain top judicial and congressional leaders, and other statutory intervals tied to office and rank; these are mandatory and distinct from discretionary presidential proclamations [4] [6].
3. Recent example: Charlie Kirk, a celebrity/political activist
In September 2025 President Trump issued a White House presidential action ordering flags at half‑staff in memory of Charlie Kirk and directed the lowering through sunset Sept. 14, 2025; multiple national outlets reported and photographed flags at half‑staff in response [1] [2] [7]. News organizations framed Kirk as a prominent conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder; the president called him a “Great American Patriot” when announcing the order [1] [7].
4. How reporters and watchdogs framed the Kirk order
Coverage noted the order was an exercise of presidential discretion rather than a statutory requirement; outlets like The Guardian and Fox News highlighted both the order and the political context, underscoring that such proclamations can reflect the president’s personal or political judgments about an individual’s national significance [8] [7].
5. Historical and customary practice: presidents have used discretion before
Beyond mandatory mourning periods, past presidents have issued proclamations for religious leaders, foreign dignitaries or notable cultural figures at their discretion (examples of proclamations for the Pope and other non‑official figures appear in White House records), illustrating that the White House routinely uses proclamations to mark deaths it considers nationally significant [5] [9].
6. Where the line between “celebrity” and “national figure” matters
The Flag Code’s language and practice leave room for interpretation: it distinguishes automatic legal observances tied to public office from broader “marks of respect” the president may declare. That ambiguity means requests to lower flags for entertainers, athletes or private celebrities are decided case‑by‑case and often draw public attention or controversy when the honoree is a partisan or polarizing figure [3] [5].
7. What reporting does not show (limitations)
Available sources document the 2025 Charlie Kirk order and the legal framework but do not provide a comprehensive historical catalogue of every instance a president has ever ordered flags lowered specifically for celebrities or athletes; a full historical list is not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting). Likewise, the sources do not include an exhaustive White House rationale for every discretionary half‑staff decision beyond the public proclamations themselves (not found in current reporting).
8. Takeaway for readers: law, precedent and politics intersect
The law empowers presidents to order half‑staff for non‑official figures; President Trump’s 2025 order for Charlie Kirk is a clear, recent example of a president ordering flags for a private political celebrity [1] [2]. Because the practice mixes statutory rules, presidential discretion and public perception, these decisions often reflect political judgments as much as objective measures of national stature—something readers should weigh when evaluating future half‑staff proclamations [3] [8].