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.

So, how do you know if the Union Jack is flying upside down? Well, it is easier to visualize the difference, looking at a side by side comparison of the flag both right way up and upside down (See picture) but to describe it is that the part of the flag closest to the flagpole (flagpole being to the left of the flag) should have a thick white line running diagonally across the top left hand corner above the red band. A flag flown incorrectly/upside down would have a thin white stripe running diagonally across the top left hand corner of the red band.

Now, if you rotate the Union Jack 180 degrees from it's correct position it will still show correctly and some people have a hard time getting their respective heads around how it ever appears incorrectly, but flip the flag 180 degrees either vertically or horizontally or in other words turn it over so that the back of the flag is now showing in front and it's easily noticeable what the problem is, i.e.: Thin white line running from the top left diagonal instead of a thick one.

It is, I would say, a forgivable act to fly the Union Jack upside down in a foreign country but if you do ever see it flying the wrong way now you will be able to be a smart-arse and make the people who were flying it feel inferior and silly.