No more flag flown at half staff in Húsavík
An obsolete tradition or a good one? Mbl.is/ Sigurður Bogi Sævarsson
Traditionally, when a member of the small community of Húsavík, North Iceland, died, a flag at the town hall was flown in half-mast. New regulations abolish this tradition and have created a quite a stir within the community, which is divided over this decision according to Morgunblaðið sources.
"I thought this tradition was obsolete," explains city councellor Hjálmar Bogi Hafliðason to Morgunblaðið. "Our community is entirely different now than what it used to be. People have moved here who have no idea who the dead person was. And tourists were surprised. They thought that a head of state had died."
The tradition was for the flag flown at half staff for anyone who currently lives in the town, had lived there before or spent time at the local hospital.
