At the request of the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, the New Zealand Flag is to be flown at half-mast on all Government and public buildings on Saturday 26 April 2025 to mark the funeral of His Holiness Pope Francis. The Flag should be returned to full mast at 5pm on Saturday 26 April 2025 (or close of building hours on that day).

This instruction applies to all Government Departments, buildings and naval vessels which have flag poles and normally fly the New Zealand Flag.

The flag is half-masted by first raising it to the top of the mast and then immediately lowering it slowly to the half-mast position. The half-mast position will depend on the size of the flag and the length of the flagpole. The flag must be lowered to a position recognisably "half-mast" to avoid the appearance of a flag which has accidentally fallen away from the top of the flagpole. As a guide, the flag should be more than its own depth from the top of the flagpole. At the end of the day, the flag should be raised again to the top of the flagpole before being fully lowered.

For more information about half-masting the flag, visit http://www.mch.govt.nz/nz-identity-heritage/flags/half-masting-new-zealand-flag.

If you have any questions, please email national.symbols@mch.govt.nz.

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