Flying the flag upside down, By Hal M. Brown

I find the flag debate, such as it is, to be an interesting sidebar issue. I flew a 3x4 foot American flag upside down at a recent protest and stood next to a man who was wearing a Vietnam vet hat flying a right side up flag. I asked him how he felt about what I was doing. He thanked me for asking and I explained to him why I did this, pointing out the history going back to sailing days when it was used as a distress signal. As the two of us stood next to each other I think we made a powerful statement.

The photo is of Ann and I at demonstration by the road in front of the senior community next to ours. You can’t see other protesters. There were about 45 of them. We are having another protest in front of the facility where we live tomorrow.

What I expect will happen as far as the protest movement goes is that we will see more and more American flags with most displayed the normal way and gradually we'll see more upside down. The more people who display the distress-indicating flag the more people will understand that this does not disrespect the flag.

This flag is described on Amazon as an “Upside Down American Garden Flag - America Is In Distress Flags Double Sided 12x18 Inch, Patriotic Outdoor Decoration” and sends an unambiguous message as to what it means:

The display of an upside down flag has been in the news since Trump won the election. Yesterday it was on the main page of HUFFPOST:

This Google News search come up with many articles.

A good website page to look at that explains the history is Operation Military Kids here.

The website Grunge had a good article about this last week (here).

For the present we intend to display our own American flag in the traditional manner. We make a further statement. We ordered a smaller Pride flag and extensions to the pole so we will fly both as shown in the top photo.

Prior to deciding to using the flag at protests we were among the the majority of people with signs. These were two of ours.

These are some photos I took at a large protest along a busy road at a nearby shopping center.

When we arrived at the protest we were walking from our car and saw a pickup truck with an American flag and another flag flying from the back of the truck. We thought “uh-oh” thinking it was a MAGA provocateur. Then we saw who it was. 

I talked to the man and got permission to use my photos of him in my Substacks because he doesn’t look like the kind of man you’d expect at an anti-Trump protest.

I wll be looking for him at the next protest at this location. I’m curious as to whether he’ll still be flying the flag right side up or will have it upside down.

There are many anti-Trump signs available here on Amazon.

Then there’s the meaning of displaying the Pride flag at anti-Trump demonstrations. 

Because Trump and MAGA have declared war against “woke” and DEI this flag does far more than it used to when it indicated you were a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community or that you were in solidarity with them. 

While it still does this, it also says that you object to Trump and MAGA’s demonization of not only this group but, by association, to their overall bigotry. 

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The ship of state is sinking. Why we ordered a flag to carry at the next protest. By Hal M. Brown and Ann Rutz

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.

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