The proclamation establishing the standard for flying the U.S. flag at half- staff was issued by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on March 1, 1954. This proclamation set the uniform rules for half-staff display on Federal buildings, grounds, and naval vessels across the United States and its territories, specifying different half-staff durations depending on the office or official involved.

If you’d like, I can pull exact wording or provide a short summary of the key points from the proclamation and how they are applied today.