In English - 下半旗或升半旗志哀?

中国政府宣布:
为表达全国各族人民对四川汶川大地震遇难同胞的深切哀悼，国务院决定，2008年5月19日至21日为全国哀悼日。在此期间，全国和各驻外机构下半旗志哀...

Notice in Chinese it says "下半旗", is it really "lower to" in English? Actually, it's "raised to"... Here is example:
Chinese national flag was raised to half-mast (or half-staff) to honor the victims of last week's Sichuan earthquake.

Why in Chinese we say 下半旗? Here is the reason:
When raising a flag to be flown at half-staff, it should be first raised to the peak of the staff and then lowered to a point where the distance between the top of the flag and the peak of the staff is one third of the length of the staff. When lowering the flag from half-staff, it should be first raised to the peak of the staff before it is lowered completely.

Remember in English use "raised to".