Half-Mast Planet: How the World’s Flags Fell, Rose, and Fell Again in 24 Hours of Orchestrated Mourning
Flags at half-mast are the world’s most diplomatic shrug: a cloth semaphore that says “something bad happened, but we’re still open for business.” Today, the gesture is as global as overpriced airport coffee, stretching from the maple-leaf bureaucracy of Ottawa to the bureaucratic maple syrup of Bern. The reason? Take your pick—there are more bereaved…