I’m watching the news, and they show US soldiers with a US flag on the shoulder of their uniform, and it’s backwards. Why is this?
(It was the right arm, and I didn’t see the left. Perhaps the other arm had a normal facing flag?)
Think about a soldier carrying a flag into combat. It always flies with the stars at the front.
If the flag were the ‘right way’ forward, it would actually symbolically look like the person is retreating. So, flags are always oriented on soldiers with the ‘mast’ forward.
You can find a bit more information by reviewing the threads
American flag direction on military uniforms
and
American flag patches on soldiers’ uniforms
and
Back to front US flags on US soldiers jackets
from the last couple of weeks.
(Maybe we need to pin one of these until the campaign is over.)
I searched on “flag” and “backward” but didn’t find these. Thanks.