Florida Flags Fly at Half-Staff on Monday for John Anderson, the Apopka Singer Whose 'Seminole Wind' Is Now the State Anthem

Florida will lower its flags on Monday for a singer. Governor Ron DeSantis has directed that the flags of the United States and the State of Florida be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, November 2, at the State Capitol in Tallahassee and at all local and state buildings, installations and grounds throughout the City of Apopka, honoring John Anderson — the Apopka native and Country Music Hall of Famer who died October 21 at the age of 71.

The honor follows the larger one by three days. On October 27 the governor declared by executive order that Anderson's 1992 song 'Seminole Wind' — an ode to Florida's landscape, history and vanishing wilderness — is now officially 'Florida's Anthem,' saying the song 'positively influenced a generational investment in protecting Florida's heritage, natural environment, and way of life, resulting in the expedited restoration of America's Everglades.' The order also directs Secretary of State Cord Byrd to erect historic markers in Apopka depicting Anderson's contribution to Florida's heritage, and renames a trail on the north shore of Lake Apopka the John Anderson Wildlife Drive and Trail System.

South Florida knows the song even if it never knew the order: 'Seminole Wind' is played during every Florida State home game at Doak Campbell Stadium, which made Sunday — the day FSU's football program turned its own page — an odd echo of the honor. Monday's half-staff is narrower than a statewide observance: the Capitol, and one hometown. Apopka raised him; the Capitol flies the flag; and the anthem, now, is his.