A State Funeral for Mr Abe Shinzo AC, former Prime Minister of Japan, will be held in Japan on Tuesday 27 September 2022. The State Funeral for Mr Abe will be the first held for a former Prime Minister since 1967.
Mr Abe served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2006 to 2007, and again from 2012 to 2020. He was the longest-serving Prime Minister in Japanese history. In 2022, Mr Abe was awarded a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the Australia-Japan bilateral relationship.
The Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, has issued a media release on his website.
As a mark of mourning and respect, the Australian National Flag should be flown at half-mast all day on Tuesday 27 September 2022 from all buildings and establishments occupied by Australian Government departments and affiliated agencies. Other organisations are welcome to participate.
- When flying the Australian National Flag with other flags, all flags in the set should be flown at half-mast.
- If a set of flags includes the flags of other nations, it would be appropriate to seek permission from the diplomatic representatives of that nation to half-mast their flag.
- An acceptable half-mast position would be when the top of the flag is a third of the distance down from the top of the flagpole.
- The Australian National Flag should not be flown at half-mast at night, even if the flag is illuminated.
- Information on flag protocol is available on the Department's website.
Your assistance is appreciated.
Commonwealth Flag Officer