Dolly Parton to Get a Full Week of Half-Staff Flags | Longer Than Recent Tributes to Pope Francis and Charlie Kirk
President Trump’s order marks a rare political honor for a singer who spent decades steering clear of partisan politics.
NEED TO KNOW
- President Trump ordered U.S. flags lowered to half-staff for a full week following Dolly Parton’s death at age 80 on Aug. 25, with the order running through sunset on Sept. 1.
- The week-long tribute outlasts recent half-staff orders for Pope Francis, conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Sen. Lindsey Graham, none of which stretched past five days.
- Parton kept her distance from party politics throughout her career, turning down the Presidential Medal of Freedom three separate times under two different administrations.
Dolly Parton, the singer-songwriter whose five-decade career made her one of the most recognizable figures in American entertainment, died on Aug. 25 at age 80. On Aug. 26, the White House confirmed that President Trump had directed flags nationwide to fly at half-staff for a full week in her honor — an order set to run through sunset on Sept. 1.
That’s a notably longer tribute than several other high-profile half-staff orders issued over the past year and a half. It also arrives as something of a surprise given Parton’s long-standing reluctance to align herself with any political figure or party.
Why the timeline stands out
Under the U.S. Flag Code, the president has broad discretion to order flags lowered to mark the death of a public figure, and there’s no fixed rulebook dictating how long that honor should last for someone outside the federal government. That flexibility is exactly why the length of Parton’s tribute is drawing attention.
When Sen. Lindsey Graham died unexpectedly on July 11, flags were lowered from July 13 through 6 p.m. on July 18 roughly five days. Following the shooting death of right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University event on Sept. 10, 2025, Trump ordered flags lowered that same day through sunset on Sept. 14, also about five days. And after Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025, flags flew at half-staff until his interment on April 26 — five days as well.
Parton’s order, by contrast, spans a full seven days. Historically, week-long national flag honors have been rare outside of sitting or former presidents; evangelist Billy Graham received a similarly extended tribute when he died in 2018, an honor that was itself unusual for someone who never held office.
Embed from Getty ImagesA politically cautious star gets a political honor
The order is a striking turn for an entertainer who spent her career deliberately avoiding political entanglements. Parton twice declined the Presidential Medal of Freedom the nation’s highest civilian honor during Trump’s first term, and turned it down a third time while Joe Biden was in the White House.
She wasn’t averse to the building itself, however. She attended the White House in 2006 as a Kennedy Center honoree during George W. Bush’s presidency, and was photographed with President Jimmy Carter in 1979.
Parton addressed her approach to politics directly in a 2021 interview with PEOPLE. “I know whatever I say, people are going to listen, and they’re going to make more of it than maybe what I meant,” she said, adding that she preferred to keep her opinions to herself rather than let them “be a weapon when it could be a tool.”
Trump’s own tribute, posted to Truth Social after her death, struck a personal note. “There has never been anyone like her, and never will,” he wrote, calling her death “a true loss for millions of people” and directing that flags be lowered starting that evening at 6 p.m.
Unlike the Graham and Pope Francis orders which followed established protocol tied to funeral timing or federal precedent Parton’s and Kirk’s tributes were both set on Trump’s own discretion rather than a fixed convention, underscoring how much latitude a sitting president has in deciding who receives the honor and for how long.
The White House has not detailed funeral or memorial plans for Parton. This outlet has reached out for further comment.
