2d ago

The correct way

I have to laugh about the fact that half the flags are the wrong way around so here is a friendly guide.

It assumes the flag pole is on the left by the way.

35 comments

Burning it is the only correct way to handle that nazi flag
This is why I scruffily daub England flags onto mini roundabouts.
I'm not sure who told the far right that flying a flag is anti-establishment. The fucking king flies them for fucks sake.
Why is your flag orientable but difficult to tell‽
Sometimes, you just want to fly a flag upside down, knowing which way is up certainly helps with that! Probably not very popular as a statement in the UK, though, considering how subtle the visual effect is.
- Not that subtle. Right flag is disturbing.
What percentage of Brits would recognize the "distress signal" of hanging flag upside down?
- Literally thought it was rotationally symmetrical until I saw this post
- That just means you need to put the kettle on, which as a Brit you will already be doing anyway.
  
  I trust someone named Nigel on this topic.
Who cares about the idolatry of a flag?
Why is it not symmetrical though?
- (I'm going to call them Xs because referring to them as saint's crosses or whatever can be confusing)
  because if it were symmetrical, the white X would look like it's merely a border to the red, which is not supposed to be the case because it's a separate symbol.
  there's also optical alignment at play. i didn't find much about this online but as a designer I've learned that diagonal lines, if broken by another object, can look weirdly crooked if perfectly aligned, so if you actually slightly misalign them you can make them look more straight. the red X here is broken, but it still looks centered rather than to the side of the white X.
- Because of the way it is! Duh!
- It's because the part representing Scotland is elevated in heraldry over Northern Ireland.
"Started at the bottom now we here". First red stripe in upper left is at the bottom.
I like how it is an interesting flag from an aesthetic point of view. So intricate and detailed. Unlike most tricolours. It even works in black and white pretty well.
I acknowledge, however, the political and historical controversies it carries. Not trying to undo that.
You just gave me a good way of looking at it. The stripes on the right side is the “right” way up. Now I’ll always remember which way it goes.
It depends on which side the flag poles is on.
- Did you read the post, sir?
  
  It seems I did not, no. How embarrassing.
What's the punishment for hanging it the wrong way around?
- When I worked at a historic site that flew the Union Flag, you had to run around the parade square three times if you screwed up while raising or lowering it. That included hanging it upside down or letting it hit the ground.
  
  And then jail?
- You have to house a fighting-age male immigrant in your shed.
- You get hanged the wrong way around
  
  From your balls?
- Straight to jail
What about hanging it vertically?
- Believe it or not, straight to jail.
- According to https://www.flaginstitute.org/pdfs/Flying_Flags_in_the_United_Kingdom.pdf:
  Union Flag - If hung horizontally or vertically, the broad white diagonal should be uppermost in the top-left corner.

35 comments