The New Zealand flag is flying at half mast on all government and public buildings to mark the funeral of Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell of the New Zealand Defence Force, killed in Afghanistan.
Tauranga City Council's flag at the intersection of Elizabeth Street and Te Awanui Drive is half-masted in accordance with the government request.

The Tauranga flag at half mast.

Tauranga's flag missed the last half-masting a week ago when Lieutenant O'Donnell died - due to an oversight.
The Tauranga City Council was left off the list of councils and government departments when the request was sent out, says city partnership spokesman Frank Begley.
"So we didn't know about it until a member of the public contacted us, we couldn't find any notification.
"We contacted the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and they have since apologised. "They failed to notice that they didn't have us on their email list. It was just a mistake which has now been corrected."
A flag is half-masted by first raising it to the top of the mast and then immediately lowering it slowly to the half-mast position. The ritual is repeated at the end of the day when the flag is raised again to the top of the flagpole before being fully lowered.