# Upside down flags **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668 "2001-09-14T19:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ottoerotic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ottoerotic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ottoerotic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/1 "2001-09-14T19:11:56Z")
Years ago while hosting an exchange student from England we decided to greet him by flying his native flag. Ignorant as we were we hung his flag upside down. When he arrived he informed us that flying it upside down is something that his country does when they are under attack. My questions are: Has anyone else heard of this practice?, Is is only an English thing or does it apply to the majority of the countries out there? And would it be appropriate to fly the American Flag this way in light of the recent events? Seems like it would be a good idea, but for all i know it could have some other disrespectful meaning in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/2 "2001-09-14T19:15:47Z")
I remember reading about something like this in an old Encyclopedia Brown story when I was a kid. Supposedly the fort under attack used it or flying the flag in the rain or something as a way to signal that they were in distress. Hardly a solid view, but interesting what sticks in one’s mind, no? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/3 "2001-09-14T19:18:48Z")
Could explain why France and Italy were unprepared to do serious battle. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/4 "2001-09-14T19:21:06Z")
Flying the United States flag upside-down is a distress signal. I don’t know if other countries also use it as such. In the Encyclopedia Brown story, Encyclopedia takes the case of a kid who wants to prove that his scapegoated ancestor was a hero in responding to a massacre at the local fort, while the acknowledged hero, the leader of a wagon train approaching the fort, was a fraud. The stry was that the “Indians” massacred the inhabitants of the fort and put on their uniforms to wait for the settlers coming in the wagon train. The wagonmaster approached the fort and saw the flag in a lightning flash (meaning that it was raining) and believed based on seeing the flag flying that all was well at the fort. Encyclopedia pointed out that it is in violation of the U.S. Flag Code to fly a flag in the rain, and while the Indians wouldn’t have known that the wagonmaster should have, and therefore by leading the settlers into the fort he sealed their fates. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/5 "2001-09-14T19:22:05Z")
…and a quick Google search brought [this back](http://www.fotw.ca/flags/flagflip.html): > [@](#): > > Upside down flags may have been used as distress signals in the past, but they are not used as distress signals anymore. (There are 16 different standardized distress signals used in shipping, the most common flag signal is “NC” with international letter flags, another “flag like” one is “something square over something round”). > > During my years of service in the German merchant fleet I encountered one case of an upside down flag: it was a shipwrecked and abandoned US sailing boat in the North Sea. My captain at this time explained it as follows: > > If a crew abandons a ship in distress to save their life, the last thing to do (if they have time to do so) is to turn the flag upside down. This means that they give up any right on the vessel or cargo and anybody who manages to rescue the ship afterwards could keep it. > > Now, after reading about upside down flags as a distress signal I’m not sure if he was right. > > I’m also not sure if there is some hard law about this flag signal, but I think I have an explanation for the use of it: Sometimes ships are found without crew. There are different reasons. It happened during the California gold rush and there have been some recent cases of piracy (yes, still) too. By law, a company looses claim of property on a ship abandoned by her captain. If the flag on a ship were still flying the right way, this would indicate that the crew did not leave in distress and therefore did not give up possession of the vessel, but rather that something odd happened. Therefore the company would have a stronger case in court to claim the right on the vessel back. > Volker Moerbitz Keith, 13 April 2000 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/6 "2001-09-14T19:23:57Z")
**Otto** , you are either much younger than me or have a much better memory than I do. Or both. ---
**Author:** ![Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/53a042/32.png) [@Vinnie\_Virginslayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vinnie_Virginslayer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/7 "2001-09-14T19:44:05Z")
Here’s an interesting link: [http://drudgereport.com/lc1.htm](http://drudgereport.com/lc1.htm) Also, Def Jam records logo is an upside down American flag. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/8 "2001-09-14T21:43:56Z")
It is certainly traditional in the UK that flying the Union Jack upside down is a distress signal. And, while to the casual eye the flag may appear reversable, there is a subtle asymmetry in the design. However, I know of no instance where this tradition was made use of. Personally, I can barely imagine a more inefficient emergency means of communication. ---
**Author:** ![GENE\_STONER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/2bfe46/32.png) [@GENE\_STONER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GENE_STONER)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/9 "2001-09-14T21:49:36Z")
Man, I have’nt thought about Encyclopedia Brown in years. As a kid, I read all his stories. ---
**Author:** ![typo\_mna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@typo\_mna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typo_mna)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/10 "2001-09-14T22:16:23Z")
> [@](#): > > while to the casual eye the flag may appear reversable, there is a subtle asymmetry in the design To what asymmetry do you refer, **bonzer**? [This](http://www.jdawiseman.com/papers/union-jack/union-jack.html) page seems to indicate that it’s rotationally symmetric over 180 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/11 "2001-09-14T22:24:39Z")
Many years ago when I was a kid I heard that flying the U.S. flag upside-down is a signal of distress. I also remember seeing it in _Baa Baa Black Sheep_. Pappy Boyington (Robert Conrad) signals with his hand to fly the flag upside-down when the base is taken over by Japanese. The Japanese want everything to appear normal, so they have 214 Sq. raise the flag. The signal is seen by the two men who were not in camp, and who saved the day. From [http://www.niceflag.com/etiquett.htm](http://www.niceflag.com/etiquett.htm) : > [@](#): > > The following flag laws and regulations are contained in the Public Law as amended July 7, 1976 by the 94th Congress of the United States. They set forth the > existing rules, customs and etiquette pertaining to the display and use of the flag of the United States of America. … > > Section 4… > (a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/12 "2001-09-14T22:29:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by typo mna \* > > > [@](#): > > > > while to the casual eye the flag may appear reversable, there is a subtle asymmetry in the design > > To what asymmetry do you refer, **bonzer**? > [This](http://www.jdawiseman.com/papers/union-jack/union-jack.html) page seems to indicate that it’s rotationally symmetric over 180 degrees. Ok, try this. In your mind, or if you have one handy, IRL, flip it over from top to bottom instead of rotating it along the center axis 180[sup]o[/sup]. This will leave the broad stripe on bottom of the lower left hand diagonal and the top of the upper right hand diagonal, and vice versa on the other sides. Very subtle, but different. ---
**Author:** ![carpoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@carpoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carpoon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/13 "2001-09-14T22:30:50Z")
Man, I remember that Encyclopedia Brown like it was yesterday. Or 1980. Anyway, for what it’s worth, in the movie Thunderheart, there is a scene where Val Kilmer, the FBI agent, goes to question one of the Native Americans, who is flying his flag upside down. Val, or one of his cohorts, threatens to arrest the man for defacing the flag for flying it upside down, whereas the man explains that this is the symbol for distress, and he is within his right to do so. Amazing how the movie which I watched 5 years ago is a lot less fresh in my head that that Encyclopedia Brown. ---
**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/14 "2001-09-15T03:11:41Z")
A while back someone at home in Wilkes-Barre called 911 when they noticed the flag being flown upside-down at the county jail. As it turned out, only the caller remembered that this was a distress signal. The flag being upside-down was merely an error by the grounds crew. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2001, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/upside-down-flags/81668/15 "2001-09-15T11:43:36Z")
> [@](#): > > To what asymmetry do you refer, **bonzer**? This page seems to indicate that it’s rotationally symmetric over 180 degrees. As **ShibbOleth** has already answered, the relevant operation is reflection about the horizontal axis. The usual way of stating the rule for correctly flying it is along the lines that, on the side next to the pole, the broader white band should be above the diagonal. If this band is below the diagonal, that’s the distress signal. Over and above issues of visibility, in practice, virtually no-one can remember whether the rule is “above” or “below”; just now, I had to figure it out from the site you pointed to.