State funeral

Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, lies in state in the rotunda of the United States Capitol as spectators and mourners file past his flag-draped casket on June 10, 2004.

A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony for people who die after they were very important in their country. With a state funeral, there is usually a day in which everyone mourns the person who died.

Often, state funerals are given to members of royal families or political leaders. People who were military or high officials or heroes or famous for other reasons also sometimes have a state funeral.

Related pages

• Funeral
• Lying in state

Other websites

Media related to State funerals at Wikimedia Commons

• The traditions of a British state funeral
• Memorializing U.S. Presidents Archived 2004-09-09 at the Wayback Machine