We went to a protest yesterday and carried a homemade sign with a quote from Justice Sonia Sotomayer. At the previous protest we had “No King!” signs.
Today this was the main page of HuffPost:
As you see, they decided to illustrate their two main front page stories with a photo of an American flag flying upside down.
By now everyone knows that flying an upside down flag is a symbol of distress. Below is the wesbite of American Flags.
Their article begins:
Typically, an upside-down American flag is a sign of distress or extreme emergencies. Some may also use it as a form of protest, which is protected as free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Nonetheless, we’ll give a deeper explanation along with historic examples of when the flag was flown upside down.
Every Friday we have had a local protest at a big box grocery store on a busy street. As people drive by they see the protest with people carrying signs but it is difficult for them to take in and read all the signs. People following the the news about protests see photos of some of the more compelling signs but at an actual protest we decided that the upside down flag sends a simple and powerful message. We ordered one which will arrive tomorrow:
Until Trump’s election my guess is that most people who ordered and flew American flags were Trumpers. Now anti-Trumpers have begun to fly the flag either in the normal way or upside down. For example the man in the photo I took at a Hands Off protest a few weeks ago.
He didn’t have to fly it upside down since it was clear what message he was sending.
When at a protest we think displaying the flag, whether upside down or not, is a good idea. Perhaps if there are enough people with flags having some right side up and the others upside down would send the message that we are all democracy loving patriotic Americans and we are in DISTRESS!
We plan to display our flag upside down so there’s no ambiguity in what we mean.
Addendum: If you don’t make it to local protests held in your areas regularly, don’t forget the National Day of Action Against Donald Trump Planned for May 1. Here’s What To Know.
