Proper Flag Display: Determining if the Union Jack Flag has Been Hung Upside Down

For people in the military or other professions that involve much flag waving and ceremonial goings-on, the idea that anyone would have a problem raising or displaying any country's national flag correctly would probably seem unthinkable. However, for those of us mere civilians who don't have much occasion to pay attention to which way is up regarding flags, mistakes can often be made.

Take for instance theme parks. In the past couple of dozen years, numerous Six Flags-style theme parks have cropped up across America and the world, and many of them have the flags of the world fluttering innocently in the breeze. On a holiday trip to one such Six Flags Park (I won't mention where to save any Six Flags employees' embarrassment), we had finished a fun day out, when sitting in the tour bus, my father noticed from a couple of hundred feet that the British Flag or Union Jack (take your pick) was being flown upside down.

To the uninitiated (Re: Me),the flag looks pretty much symmetrical, but it isn't. The tour guide, being a man of honor and having served in World War II, felt almost duty-bound to get off the tour bus and point this out to the staff at the park. And we watched with much amusement as the flag was pulled down and then hoisted up the correct way.

Apparently a flag can be flown upside down to indicate a state of distress and as distressed as Britain may be nowadays, it isn't so bad that we need to advertise the fact. Add to that the unlikeliness that many people would even notice that the flag was flying upside down and the distress effect is rendered rather useless.

As with the American flag the desecration of the national flag can be deemed an offense and flying it upside down (with intent) could be considered disrespectful to the Crown and we all know what happens when you get on the wrong side of the Queen. With flag finally fluttering correctly and honor restored the tour guide got back on the bus and we continued our holidays.