Gov. Noem orders flags to fly at full-staff for Inauguration Day

Noem joins several other Republican governors across country in declaring one day break

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Flags flying across the state of South Dakota should not be doing so at half-staff come Jan. 20.

That’s at the order of Gov. Kristi Noem, who Thursday morning required the flags be raised again for the duration of Inauguration Day, the Monday when President-elect Donald Trump would officially be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

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The flags have been flying at half-staff since the death of former President Jimmy Carter. President Joe Biden’s order requires that all flags be flown at half-staff until thirty days after Carter’s death. The former president died on Dec. 29, and thus the flags are instructed to stay at half-staff until sunset on Jan. 28.

Typically, presidents order officially proclamations to have flags fly only halfway in honor of national tragedies, or the passing of prominent public figures. Governors can do the same thing for their states, and will also typically follow presidential decrees to lower the flags.

However, Noem’s South Dakota and several other states like Florida, South Carolina, and Montana have opted to temporarily defy the presidential proclamation so as to properly pay tribute to the peaceful transition of power.

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