The White House ordered public flags to be displayed at half-staff for a period of 30 days from Carter's day of death, who died Dec. 29. Flags are flown at half-mast on ships and at naval stations. On shore, flags are flown at half-staff, meaning the flagpole is attached to a building or stuck in the ground.

Flags are to be flown at half-staff for 30 days from the day of a current or former president’s death “on all buildings, grounds, and naval vessels of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions,” as codified in the Office of the Federal Register in 1954.