The symbol was striking: the flags on Capitol Hill lowered to honor Sen. John McCain while the banner at the White House flew at the top of the pole for part of Monday.
Then, amid a backlash from both sides of the aisle, President Donald Trump issued a proclamation later that day lowering the flag until the late senator is buried Sunday.
Did the president break protocol by hoisting the flag up after two days, though?
You've been debating this issue on our Facebook page, so we decided to verify it.
We asked Tennessee Army National Guard Sgt. Maj. Bobby Lee and Ken Irvine, the past commander of the Knoxville American Legion.
Lee said there are certain days and situations for which the flag is lowered to half-staff. Those are regulation--not law--proclaimed by President Eisenhower in 1954.
"For a sitting president or a former president who passes away, the flag is lowered to half staff for 30 days," Lee said.
The death of a sitting senator like McCain has a specific protocol, too.
"For any sitting member of congress, the flag is lowered to half-staff on the day of their passing until the end of the day on the following day," he said.
Which means two days is the mandated amount of time the flag must fly lowered.
So it's verified that the president had not broken protocol by raising the flag. However, the tradition of rendering honor is another matter, one that allows the president to keep the flag lowered for a longer period.
"Senator McCain has spent his entire life serving the country," Irvine said.
The American Legion is one of the organizations that asked President Trump to fly the flag at half-staff for longer in honor of McCain's service.
"What has developed over time is, for sitting senators, we have flown the flag longer, the flag code allows that if the president issues a proclamation. Certainly if anyone has earned it, Senator John McCain did," Irvine said.
During Barack Obama's presidency, four U.S. senators died: Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., in 2009; Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., in 2010; Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, in 2012; and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., in 2013 according to the Indianapolis Star.
Going off his presidential archives, Obama had issued proclamations for all but Lautenberg to fly the flag at half-staff until their burial. According the Associated Press, the flag had flown at half-staff for an unspecified amount of time for Lautenberg.
President Trump also ordered the flag to fly at half-staff for former first lady Barbara Bush until the day she was buried.
GOING DEEPER:
Here is how long the flag should be at half-staff in specific circumstances:
SOURCES:
-Tennessee Army National Guard Sgt. Maj. Bobby Lee
-Ken Irvine, the past commander of the Knoxville American Legion.