# About the Saudi flag **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-saudi-flag/694307 "2014-07-29T05:43:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-saudi-flag/694307/1 "2014-07-29T05:43:05Z")
Since the flag of Saudi Arabia is regarded as a religious symbol, it may not be flown at half-mast (for mourning) or upside-down (as a distress signal). So, how would a Saudi ship at sea, for example, express mourning or distress? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-saudi-flag/694307/2 "2014-07-29T05:59:19Z")
Ships at sea generally don’t fly flags at half-mast, not least because the flagstaff is generally too short to make this noticeable. As for distress signals, the practice of inverting the national flag is not a universal distress signal. There are many countries whose national flags are the same when inverted - e.g France - or nearly the same - the UK. And there are others whose national flags, when inverted, become the flags of other nations - e.g. Poland and Indonesia. Plus, ships have many different, and more recognisable, signals of distress available to them - maritime signal flags, distress rockets, a voice or morse radio message or a radio beacon. And most of them are detectable at greater distances than would be possible with an inverted national flag. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2014, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/about-the-saudi-flag/694307/3 "2014-07-29T06:00:11Z")
[International Code Signal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Signals)flags. There are a number of different flags and combinations of flags used for specific circumstances.