City & Council

City of Hamilton Flag Protocol

Rules for flying the National Flag of Canada

The City of Hamilton follows federal protocol in flying the national flag of Canada at half-staff on certain occasions, including as directed by the Department of Canadian Heritage for all federal government buildings.

Visit the Government of Canada website for rules for flying the National Flag of Canada

Current Status of Flags

Flags are currently flying at full staff

Lowering of flags

Raising of Flags

The City of Hamilton's flags are flown at the half-staff position as a sign of mourning on the passing of:

Sovereign or a member of the Royal Family related in the first degree to the Sovereign
Governor General of Canada (current/former)
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (current/former)
Canadian Prime Minister (current/former)
Ontario Premier (current/former)
Mayor (current/former)
Member of Council (current/former)
Local Member of Federal or Provincial Government and Senators (current/former)
Current City Employees including Police, EMS and Fire Services to be lowered at the employee’s immediate workplace. Should the workplace not fly flags, the flags flown at City Hall will be lowered to half-staff

Half-staffing will also occur on:

Remembrance Day, November 11
Worker’s Day of Mourning, April 28
Events/special circumstances such as events deemed to represent a significant tragedy or a loss of life, including publicly announced Canadian Forces fatal casualty on any Canadian or Canadian-involved mission at home or abroad

Community groups and organizations may request a community flag be flown at City Hall to recognize an event, a historical event or a specific month.

Requests are to be submitted at least four weeks prior to the requested date and must include the required information.
Flags flown by special request, if the request is granted, will be flown for an appropriate period specified.
If the request is to fly a cultural or fundraising flag, the flag must have grommets and be provided to the City of Hamilton. The flag will be returned once flag raising period has concluded.
At no time will the City of Hamilton display flags deemed to be inappropriate, offensive in nature or those supporting discrimination, prejudice, political, commercial entities or religious movements.
One request per organization per calendar year will be permitted. Requests will be considered on a first come first serve basis.

Submit a Flag Raising Request

Request to lower flags to half-staff

Program details

Community groups and organizations may request a community flag be flown at City Hall to recognize an event, an historical event or a specific month.

Requests are to be submitted at least four weeks prior to the requested date and must include the required information.
Flags flown by special request, if the request is granted, will be flown for an appropriate period specified.
If the request is to fly a cultural or fundraising flag, the flag must be provided to the City of Hamilton and will then be returned.
At no time will the City of Hamilton display flags deemed to be inappropriate, offensive in nature or those supporting discrimination, prejudice, political, commercial entities or religious movements.
One request per organization per calendar year will be permitted. Requests will be considered on a first come first serve basis.

Requestor Information

Name

Organization

Email

Phone

Address

Request Details

Name of flag to be raised

Date of flag-raising requested

Request must be at least four weeks prior to the requested date.

Date the flag to be removed

Flags will be limited to a maximum of one month.

Any additional details you would like to provide

Notice of Collection

Personal information, as defined by the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.M.56, as amended (MFIPPA) is collected under the authority of Section 227 of the Municipal Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 25 as amended, and in accordance with the provisions of MFIPPA. Personal information on this form will be used to assess and determine feasibility of flag raising requests submitted for Hamilton City Hall and other City of Hamilton sites. By providing your email address, you are consenting to receiving emails from the City of Hamilton and/or their agents/contractors for the purpose of processing this request.

Information collected for this initiative may be stored on servers located in Canada and the United States and may be subject to Canadian and/or American laws. Questions about the collection of this personal information can be emailed to [email protected]

Date modified

April 02, 2024