Trump ordered flags lowered nationwide for Dolly Parton. Here are 9 other private citizens who received the rare honor.

Flags at half-staff are a presidential call, not a law, and this is the one time nobody's arguing about it.

Dolly Parton died on August 25, 2026. Dolly Parton, a pioneer of country music and American icon, died Tuesday. Upon news of her death, Trump ordered American flags to be lowered for one week. This is a rare honor for a non-politician, though not unprecedented. The world is a little less sparkly today. Dolly Parton, musician, actor, philanthropist, and businesswoman, has died, her nephew announced on Tuesday. She was 80. In a world defined by polarization, Parton was the rare public figure beloved across the political spectrum. On Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump said on Truth Social he was ordering American flags to be lowered across the country for one week to honor her legacy — one of the longest periods ever granted to a private citizen. But she's not the first non-politician to be granted this honor. Following the deaths of civil rights leaders, American icons, and pop-culture legends, presidents dating back to the 1960s have ordered flags to be lowered at federal buildings. Here are nine public figures — not politicians — who received the rare presidential tribute. Dolly Parton Dolly Parton attends the 58th Academy Of Country Music Awards at The Ford Center at The Star on May 11, 2023 in Frisco, Texas Theo Wargo/ Upon the news of Parton's death, President Trump posted on Truth Social his intention to lower the flag for a full week, starting from 6 p.m. on the day her death was announced, August 25, until September 1. "This is a true loss for millions of people. There has never been anyone like her, and never will," he wrote. Charlie Kirk Business leaders reacted to Charlie Kirk being fatally shot in Utah. After 31-year-old Kirk's assassination on September 10, 2025, President Trump ordered the flags to be lowered from that day until September 14, 2025. "No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie. He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us," the president wrote on Truth Social. Billy Graham Billy Graham speaks during his Crusade at Flushing Meadows Corona Park June 24, 2005 in the Queens borough of New York. Billy Graham, who died on February 21, 2018, was an evangelist and minister. He was 99. President Trump announced on the date of Graham's death that the flags should be lowered on the date of his interment, March 2, 2018. Neil Armstrong Neil Armstrong, Neil Armstrong In 1969, Armstrong, An American Astronaut, Was The First Person To Set Foot On The Moon. Encyclopaedia Britannica/ Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, died on August 25, 2012, at the age of 82. President Barack Obama announced the presidential proclamation two days later. A private memorial service was held on August 31, and his ashes were buried at sea on September 14. Dorothy Height Portrait of American Civil Rights & women's rights activist Dorothy Irene Height (1912 - 2010) seated at a desk, Washington DC, 1978 or 1979. Civil rights and women's rights icon Dorothy Height died at the age of 98 on April 20, 2010. On April 26, President Obama ordered the flags to be lowered to half mast on the day of her interment, which was on April 29. Coretta Scott King Mrs. Martin Luther King presiding at conference of Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - one of the world's oldest peace organizations. King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., and a civil rights icon in her own right, died on January 30, 2006, at age 78. On February 6, President George W. Bush issued a proclamation ordering the flags to be lowered upon her interment the next day. Rosa Parks American Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks poses as she works as a seamstress, shortly after the beginning of the Montgomery bus boycott, Montgomery, Alabama, February 1956. After the death of 92-year-old Parks, another civil rights icon, on October 24, 2005, President Bush issued the half-staff proclamation. From October 30 to 31, she lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda, the first woman to ever be laid in honor there, NBC reported. Bush ordered federal flags lowered on the day of her interment, which was on November 2. Bob Hope British-born American actor and comedian Bob Hope (born Leslie Hope, 1903 - 2003) performs onstage at Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, October 1, 1989. Hope died on July 27, 2003. The iconic comedian and American pop-culture mainstay died less than two months after his 100th birthday. The day after his death, President Bush announced that the flags would be lowered on the day of Hope's interment, on July 31. Roy Wilkins Executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Roy Wilkins at a news conference in 1974. Wilkins, a civil rights icon, was best known for his work with the NAACP from 1955 to 1977. He died at the age of 80 on September 8, 1981. President Ronald Reagan announced that the flags should be lowered from that day until Wilkins' interment on September 11. Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stephen F. Upon 39-year-old King Jr.'s assassination on April 4, 1968, President Lyndon C. Johnson declared April 7, 1968, a national day of mourning. He also issued a proclamation that the flags would be lowered from April 5 until his interment on April 9. Read the original article on Business Insider

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