A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition. Generally, state funerals are held in order to involve the general public in a national day of mourning after the family of the deceased gives consent. A state funeral will often generate mass publicity from both national and global media outlets, such as state funerals undertaken in the United Kingdom as well as state funerals in the United States.
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According to the Act of State Funeral (1948), state funerals are declared by presidential order after a majority vote in the Legislative Yuan. The national flag shall be flown at half-mast on the day of state funeral.
State funerals (or equivalent) were arranged for the following persons:
Only three people from Hong Kong have been given the allowed to have a national flag of the People's Republic of China drapped on their coffin during their funeral:
Funerals using a SAR flag is not deemed a state funeral in Hong Kong.
Uniforms services also provide funerals for fallen members. Flags of the specific service or the SAR flag maybe used on the coffin. Escort maybe provided by Hong Kong Police to Gallant Garden. For police funerals the force's pipe band, police vehicles (to tranport the body) and pallbearers are used.
India held a state funeral for its founding leader, Mahatma Gandhi, who was assassinated on 30 January 1948. State funerals were also organised for India's Prime Ministers who died in office—Jawaharlal Nehru (1964), Lal Bahadur Shastri (1966), and Indira Gandhi (1984). A state funeral was arranged for Mother Teresa on her deathbed on 5 September 1997 and for Sri Sathya Sai Baba on his death on 27 April 2011.
A state funeral was arranged for the following people on their deathbed on the respective date:
A state funeral was held for Victor Hugo in 1885.
A state funeral was held for former President of Malta and President of the United Nations General Assembly Guido de Marco in August 2010.[1]
Poland held a state funeral for President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and his wife, Maria Kaczyńska, on April 18, 2010 after he and 95 others perished in a plane crash.
In Russia, during the time of the Soviet Union (1917-1991), the state funerals of the most senior political and military leaders were staged as massive events with millions of mourners all over the USSR. The ceremonies held after the deaths as Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko all followed the same basic outline. They took place in Moscow, began with a public lying in state of the deceased in the House of the Unions and ended with an interment at the Red Square. The most notable examples of such state funerals during the Soviet period of Russian history are the ceremonies that were held for Lenin and Stalin, and for the death and funeral of Leonid Brezhnev.
In the second half of the 20th century, whenever a General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union passed away, the event would first be officially acknowledged by Soviet radio and television. After several days of national mourning, the deceased would be given a state funeral and then buried. Soviet state funerals were often attended by foreign heads of state, heads of government, foreign ministers and other dignitaries from abroad. Following the death of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, there were five days of national mourning. Following the death of General Secretary Yuri Andropov in 1984, a four-day period of nationwide mourning was announced.
The state funeral for a deceased General Secretary would be arranged, managed and prepared by a special committee of the Communist Party that would be formed for the occasion. As the funeral committee would normally be chaired by the deceased's successor, the preparations for Soviet state funerals were usually followed with great interest by foreign political scientists trying to gauge power shuffles within the Communist Party. The allocation of responsibilities during the funeral, appointment of pallbearers and positions within the order of precedence observed during the televised funeral ceremonies in Moscow could often be interpreted as a clue for the future position of Politburo members within the Party. When, after Brezhnev's death in 1982, Yuri Andropov was elected chairman of the committee in charge of Brezhnev's funeral, this was seen as a first sign by First World commentators that Andropov might be the most likely candidate for the position of General Secretary.[2]
Prior to interment, the body of the deceased General Secretary would lie in state in the Column Hall of the House of the Unions which was decorated by numerous red flags and other communist symbols. The mourners, which usually would be brought in by the thousands, shuffled up a marble staircase beneath chandeliers draped in black gauze. On the stage at the left side of the Column Hall, amid a veritable garden of flowers, a full orchestra in black tailcoats would play classical music. The deceased's embalmed body, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and a tie, would be displayed in an open coffin on a catafalque banked with carnations, red roses and tulips, facing the long queue of mourners. A small guard of honour would be in attendance in the background. At the right side of the hall there would be placed seats for guests of honour, with the front row reserved for the dead leader's family.
On the day of the funeral, final ceremonies would be held at the Column Hall during which the lid of the coffin would be temporarily closed. The coffin would then be carried out of the House of the Unions and placed on a gun carriage drawn by a military vehicle. A funeral parade would then convey the coffin from the House of the Unions to the Red Square. Two officers led the funeral parade, carrying a large portrait of the deceased, followed by a group of numerous soldiers carrying red floral wreaths. A group of general officers would come next, carrying the late leader's decorations and medals on small red cushions. Behind them, the coffin rested atop a gun carriage. Walking immediately behind were the members of the deceased's family. The Politburo leaders, wearing red armbands, came next and led the last group of official mourners. At Brezhnev's funeral, the escort of official mourners included forty-four persons.
As the coffin reached the middle of the Red Square, it would be removed from the carriage and placed on a red-draped bier facing the Lenin Mausoleum, with its lid removed. After a series of funeral speeches, which were delivered by military and political leaders (typically including the deceased's successor as General Secretary, as well as 'ordinary' workers) from the balcony of the Lenin Mausoleum, the coffin would be carried in a procession around the mausoleum to the Kremlin Wall Necropolis just behind it. There, with the most senior mourners looking on, the coffin would be placed on a red-draped bier and the mourners would pay last respects. The coffin's lid would then be closed for the final time and the body lowered into the ground by two men, with handfuls of earth thrown onto the coffin by the senior mourners. The grave would be filled in immediately afterward, while the mourners were still present to watch. Gun salutes would be fired, sirens sounded around the Kremlin and the Soviet national anthem be played. This marked the end of the interment. The senior mourners would then return to the balcony of the Lenin Mausoleum to review a parade on Red Square while the military band would play quick marches. This concluded the state funeral.
With little deviations, the described protocol was roughly the same for the state funerals of Lenin, Stalin, Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. Lenin and Stalin were placed inside the Lenin Mausoleum while the others were interred in individual graves in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis located behind the mausoleum along the actual Kremlin wall. Stalin's body would lie beside Lenin's in the mausoleum until being moved to the Kremlin Wall Necropolis several years after his death.
A state funeral consists of a military procession where the coffin is borne on a gun carriage from the private resting chapel to Westminster Hall. In a state funeral the gun carriage is pulled by members of the Royal Navy. In a royal ceremonial funeral, the gun carriage is pulled by horses. The body usually lies in state in Westminster Hall for three days. This is then followed by a funeral service at Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral. Many of the features of a state funeral are shared by other types of funerals—a royal ceremonial funeral (for example, that of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales) often has a lying in state and Westminster Abbey service. The real distinction between a state funeral and a ceremonial funeral is that a state funeral requires a motion or vote in Parliament. The honour of a state funeral is usually reserved for the sovereign as head of state and the current or past consort.
The most recent state funeral for a person outside of the Royal Family was that of The Rt Hon. Sir Winston Churchill, KG OM CH in 1965.
In Canada, state funerals are public events held to commemorate the memory of present and former governors general, present and former prime ministers, sitting members of the Ministry (the Privy Council) and other prominent Canadians at the discretion of the Prime Minister[1]. With ceremonial, military, and religious elements incorporated, state funerals are offered and executed by the Government of Canada which provides a dignified manner for the Canadian people to mourn a national public figure.
In 2006, the House of Commons voted unanimously, on a motion introduced by the NDP, to hold a state funeral when the last Canadian veteran of the First World War died[2]. However, John Babcock, after becoming the last surviving veteran, stated that he did not feel the need to be honoured in such a way.
In August 2011, in a rare circumstance, Prime Minister Stephen Harper offered a state funeral for his political adversary and Leader of the Opposition, Jack Layton. Layton died of cancer only three months after his New Democratic Party became the official opposition, for the first time in his party's history.
In the United States, state funerals are held in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., and involve military spectacle, ceremonial pomp, and religious observance. As the highest possible honor bestowed upon a person posthumously, state funerals are an entitlement offered to a sitting or ex-President of the United States, a President-elect, as well as other people designated by the President.[3] Administered by the Military District of Washington (MDW), state funerals are greatly influenced by protocol, steeped in tradition, and rich in history. However, the overall planning as well as the decision to hold a state funeral, is largely determined by the President before his death and the First Family.[4]
State funerals have been held in Washington D.C. for William Henry Harrison (1841),[5] Zachary Taylor (1850),[5] Abraham Lincoln (1865),[6] Thaddeus Stevens (1868),[7] James A. Garfield (1881),[5] William McKinley (1901),[5] Warren Harding (1920),[5] the Unknown Soldier of World War I (1921),[8] William Howard Taft (1930),[9] John J. Pershing (1948),[10] the Unknown Soldiers of World War II and the Korean War (1958),[11] John F. Kennedy (1963),[12] Douglas MacArthur (1964),[13] Herbert Hoover (1964),[14] Dwight D. Eisenhower (1969),[15] Lyndon B. Johnson (1973),[16] Ronald Reagan (2004),[17] and Gerald Ford (2006-2007).[18]
Juan Perón, Eva Perón, Raul Alfonsín and Néstor Kirchner have all had state funerals.
In the 80s, to President-elect Tancredo Neves, who died one day before his inauguration. In 1994, for the Formula 1 champion Ayrton Senna FDE—the powers granted Congress the former head of state (Senna died during a race in the Italian town of Imola) and in 2010 for Vice President Jose Alencar of Lula, who beyond the position of vice could move the Brazilian people with his fight against cancer.
Traditionally, state funerals are reserved for all former Governors-General, as well as Prime Ministers who die in office. Others to receive state funerals include Sir Frederic Truby King (1937) who founded the Plunket Society, the unidentified victims of the Tangiwai rail disaster (1953),[19] Victoria Cross recipient Jack Hinton (1997)[20] and mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary (2008).[21] and the tomb of Unknown Warrior to represent all soldiers who represented and sacrificed NZ in all wars. The offer of a state funeral was refused by the family of former Prime Minister David Lange.[22]
In Australia, state funerals are increasingly offered to persons of general celebrity, such as Steve Irwin (whose family declined the honour).
State funerals held in NSW are subject to a policy operated since 1966. Politicians (both current and former) and people holding positions such as Governor and Chief Justice automatically qualify for a state funeral, however the Premier of the State of NSW can offer such a service for those determined to be distinguished citizens of NSW. For example, football (soccer) legend Johnny Warren was given a state funeral in NSW. Where the family of the deceased does not wish to have a state funeral, the offer of a state memorial service will be considered.
In June 1951, a state funeral was held in Bathurst, NSW for former prime minister Ben Chifley.
On 27 November 2007, Bernie Banton, a campaigner for asbestos victims who worked for James Hardie, lost his battle with mesothelioma, an asbestos-related disease. His family was offered a state funeral by NSW Premier Morris Iemma.
A state funeral was offered for Steve Irwin in September 2006, but the offer was declined. A state funeral occurred for Joh Bjelke-Petersen.
A state funeral was held in September 2006 for race-car driver Peter Brock. In 2009, a state funeral was held to honour the actor Charles 'Bud' Tingwell.[23]
A state funeral was held in Perth for former prime minister John Curtin in July 1945.