# Upside Down Flag Protest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 11, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624 "2009-07-11T00:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/101 "2009-07-13T10:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Well, you can fly the British flag mirrored, I suppose, but the effect is subtle. [/quote] Hence my confusion reading this thread about the fuss. Googling reveals the Stars and Stripes doubles as the US naval ensign, whereas the UK has a dedicated ensign, so we don’t have any tradition of flying the Jack upside down implying distress (in fact, the design of our flag encourages it). ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/102 "2009-07-13T14:50:59Z")
> [@ashman165](#): > > Or not. You don’t know what they believe; and in this case, the dude seems to think that this is an example of some greater malady. I don’t care what he thinks. I know what the inverted flag means in the military, and it does NOT mean “country in distress.” If he was in the Marines, he knows that too. > [@](#): > > The inverted flag is a sign of duress in the Army, where it can’t be rightly argued it means “save our ship”. They use “SOS” in the Army too. They use it in the Boy Scouts. You don’t need a ship. As I said, the symbol originated as a Navy distress symbol for ships at sea. It is now a more general distress symbol, but “country in distress” is a purely political use of the symbol, not any kind of military meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/103 "2009-07-13T14:56:49Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Typically, Marines are not crybabies, so, me being the military man I am, am going to operate under the assumption that he has a valid gripe until I see otherwise. I think it is BS to give a military man any more leeway than a draft-dodger when it comes to this stuff(its like letting an off duty cop get away with double parking because he’s a cop). With that said, the guys has the right to fly his flag upside down or inside out if that is what he wants to do. If we still let guys with swastikas and white hoods have parades on on main street, I think our republic can handle a guy flying his flag upside down. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/104 "2009-07-15T04:13:56Z")
> [@Snnipe\_70E](#): > > No the CNO reports to the SecNav, and the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff. [Really?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Marine_Corps#United_States_Navy) > [@](#): > > Both the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commandant of the Marine Corps report directly to the Secretary of the Navy. > [@Snnipe 70E](#): > > Look at the Joint Chief’s, Army, Navy, And Air Force. No Marine they are repersented by the CNO. [Really?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff#Current_Joint_Chiefs_of_Staff)[ > [@](#): > > The Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) is the highest-ranking officer in the United States Marine Corps and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.[1] The CMC reports directly to the Secretary of the Navy but not to the Chief of Naval Operations ]([Commandant of the Marine Corps - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commandant_of_the_Marine_Corps)) > [@Snnipe 70E](#): > > And no Coast Guard, they are not a part of the department of defence. Correct. The USCG is a part of the Department of Homeland Security (up until 2002 it was attached to the DOT). ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/105 "2009-07-15T18:46:50Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > But someone facing a delay in his liquor license doesn’t rise to the level of the country being in distress. What’s next. “Oh, I got a speeding ticket I didn’t deserve. Honey, flip the flag again.”? That said, he’s got a right to do it, just like he has the right to be a dick. Flying the flag upside-down doesn’t indicate _the country_ is in distress, it indicates _the party flying the flag_ is in distress. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624/106 "2009-07-15T20:12:07Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The Japanese, then. Or the [Scandinavians](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nordiske-flag.jpg)! My God! Those are _all_ upside down!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flag-protest/502624.md?page=5)