# National flags upside down - by accident or ignorance **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 29, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486 "2012-05-29T22:07:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/1 "2012-05-29T22:07:13Z")
Here in the UK many, many people are completely ignorant of the correct way to fly the Union Flag. As a consequence often times flags are flown upside down by people who should know better. It amazes me that so many who feel sufficiently patriotic to fly a flag (we are by nature much less a flag-wavey people than the US btw) are clueless in this regard, whereas I, who shuns symbolic patriotism, have known this since I was 8 in Cub Scouts. I will admit that it is a bit more subtle than the Stars & Stripes but really very easy when you learn. Some examples include a man I know who spent 16 years in the British Army, so should know better, who has a wrong-way-up flag tattooed on his arm - I didn’t dare tell him, he was a big lad! Also today on the BBC news there was video of the Olympic torch relay as it reached the summit of Mount Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales, somebody had carried a large flag on a pole all the way up and upside down. At numerous international sporting events you will see British fans holding up inverted flags. So, are their any other countries where the flag is so often flown the wrong way up, or are we just spectacularly clueless? ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/2 "2012-05-29T22:09:40Z")
Maybe all of these people are in distress. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/3 "2012-05-29T22:24:38Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > So, are their any other countries where the flag is so often flown the wrong way up, or are we just spectacularly clueless? You’re not alone. The Swiss and the Scots are both notorious for flying their flags upside down. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/4 "2012-05-29T22:44:35Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > You’re not alone. The Swiss and the Scots are both notorious for flying their flags upside down. I’ve heard this is quite common in [Japan](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Flag_of_Japan_(1).jpg), too… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/5 "2012-05-29T22:50:55Z")
A lot of people mess up when hanging the American flag vertically, as well. The canton (blue part) should always be in the upper left. Simply rotating it 90 degrees from horizontal is wrong. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/6 "2012-05-29T23:01:46Z")
For a symbol that is often seen in different orientations, I’m surprised that flags are not more symmetrical. It may be seen from the front, back or hung vertically. It would seem like a good flag design would be one where it looks correct from all orientations, like the Japanese flag. There’s some weirdness with the USA flag orientation if shown on an airplane tail or sleeve patch. Sometimes the correct convention is to show it backwards, which always looks odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2012, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/7 "2012-05-29T23:08:16Z")
countries that have symmetrical flags are confident that its people will never be distressed. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/8 "2012-05-30T01:55:42Z")
Ah, never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/9 "2012-05-30T02:17:03Z")
I always thought the UK flag was symmetrical. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/10 "2012-05-30T02:19:16Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > You’re not alone. The Swiss and the Scots are both notorious for flying their flags upside down. Philippinos do it too if you piss them off enough. The Union Jack would only look subtly different upside down. I’d doubt I’d have been able to tell the difference before the OP drew attention to it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/11 "2012-05-30T07:08:04Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > I always thought the UK flag was symmetrical. ☹ You can rotate the British flag 180° and it would look symmetrical. Inverting it is not the same as rotating it, however, because of the grommets on one side where you clip it to the hoist rope. [This](http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/geography/unionjack7.html) gives a very good illustration of what the UK flag looks like properly flown vs flying it upside down. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/12 "2012-05-30T07:30:35Z")
There was the time that a US Marine colour guard flew our flag upside down. [Cite here](http://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/21/sports/world-series-marines-rally-round-the-maple-leaf-easing-a-flap.html?gpaewanted=all&src=pm). But the US apologized, and made things right subsequently. In the end, what was at issue was the World Series of Baseball. And the Toronto Blue Jays won! So the “flag flap” turned out to be moot. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/13 "2012-05-30T07:38:39Z")
> [@ticker](#): > > I will admit that it is a bit more subtle than the Stars & Stripes but really very easy when you learn. Yeah, but it’s also really easy to forget if you don’t habitually hang flags. I used to know - but I had to go and look it up. Maybe I’m getting old, or just weird, but I often have problems remembering things that are a case of\* the right choice out of exactly two options\* - there’s a road junction on the way back from the supermarket where a two-lane carriageway splits into three just before the roundabout. I need to end up in the middle of the three lanes, and this is easiest if you’re in the lane that splits, but _every time_ I drive along there, I can’t remember whether this is the right or left lane. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/14 "2012-05-30T07:41:53Z")
Count me in with the people that didn’t know about this - I had always thought the Union flag to be symmetrical both vertically and horizontally. Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/15 "2012-05-30T08:19:02Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > There’s some weirdness with the USA flag orientation if shown on an airplane tail or sleeve patch. Sometimes the correct convention is to show it backwards, which always looks odd to me. Not just the US flag. A flag isn’t just the image as viewed with the flag pole to the left, it can be viewed from the other side as well. Imagine a flag bearer on a horse riding down the road. If he passes you from right to left the flag will have the pole on the left and will appear in the conventional sense with the stars in the top left. If he passes from left to right though, the pole will be to the right of the flag and the flag will have the stars in the top right. For this reason it is convention in many countries to have flags painted on the side of say a vehicle, as if the flag pole was toward the front of the vehicle. Flags on the left of the vehicle will appear conventionally and flags on the right side of the vehicle will be “backwards”, but it’s not really backwards, it’s just the same flag viewed from the other side of the horse :). ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/16 "2012-05-30T08:47:03Z")
I knew it was different which way was on top, but Im still not convinced it matters. And Im not convinced that anyone actually flies the UJ upsidedown to indicate distrss since even if everyone knew, it would be v hard to see, ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/17 "2012-05-30T12:31:38Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > It would seem like a good flag design would be one where it looks correct from all orientations, like the Japanese flag. Have you ever seen it edge on? :dubious: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/18 "2012-05-30T13:33:36Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > You can rotate the British flag 180° and it would look symmetrical. Inverting it is not the same as rotating it, however, because of the grommets on one side where you clip it to the hoist rope. [This](http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/geography/unionjack7.html) gives a very good illustration of what the UK flag looks like properly flown vs flying it upside down. I would point out though that the example with the screenshot of the TV, claimed as “wrong” is not necessarily so. The broad white stripe should be on top at the hoist side (next to the flagpole), which is not necessarily the left. The TV image doesn’t show a flagpole, so you can’t say whether it is right or wrong. In fact any representation of the flag without a pole cannot be said to be the wrong way up. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/19 "2012-05-30T14:09:37Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > countries that have symmetrical flags are confident that its people will never be distressed. Damn right! ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486/20 "2012-05-30T14:24:13Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > countries that have symmetrical flags are confident that its people will never be distressed. But then why would the UK flag be so similar when inverted? The dis-symmetry is so subtle it seems like it would be hard to recognize under non-ideal conditions. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-flags-upside-down-by-accident-or-ignorance/623486.md?page=2)