This side up union flag

swyflot


Joined: 07/11/2008
Posts: 916

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 07:47

Saw the tv the other night about the EU referendum debate,outside parliament the UKIP party were gathered behind the Union flag, yes you have guessed it, it was upside down,so perhaps the flag makers should sew into the top left side of the flag the words this side up also a little arrow might help.

Not just UKIP but manufactures,sportsmen and women,hell even servicemen get it wrong,tv programme at the minute called little britain shows the flag with equal white stripes.

I know its a small thing,but it really does annoy me

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 08:07

The flag does not have reflection symmetry, due to the slight pinwheeling of St Patrick's cross, which is technically called the counterchange of saltires. Thus, it has a right side and a wrong side up.

To fly the flag the correct way up, the broad portion of the white cross of St Andrew should be above the red band of St Patrick (and the thin white portion below) in the upper hoist canton (the corner at the top nearest to the flag-pole), giving the Scottish symbol precedence over the Irish symbol. This is expressed by the phrases wide white top and broad side up.

Traditionally, flying a flag upside down is understood as a distress signal. (Wikipedia)

Perhaps it was not accidental....

swyflot


Joined: 07/11/2008
Posts: 916

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 08:38

I think that when you hoist the flag up, that there are two connecting leads, top and bottom i think the short lead (top) denotes that the flag is being hoisted correctly,useful in the dark.the distress use mainly started when forts were used,if it was being overun one of the last acts was to hoist the flag upside down,this would warn an approaching releif column that they might be facing an ambush

Groucho



Joined: 26/04/2008
Posts: 7993

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 09:10

Ah so it wasn't accidental then....

itfc1978


Joined: 31/03/2009
Posts: 187

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 09:19

Stuart

So which (ex) servicemen are you referring to ?!



Anyway you would love mine proudly hanging in the shed,possibly upside down I will have to check, now I know what to look for,I think the little arrow is a bloodly good idea,lets keep it nice and simple!



Got Ipswich Town Pride of East Anglia emblazoned all over it!!



Mike

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 09:55

Flags sometimes have a small toggle stitched in the top corner and a short lanyard and loop in the bottom corner which are used to fix the flag to the halyard.

swyflot


Joined: 07/11/2008
Posts: 916

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 13:17

Mike

if the cap fits,do you mean to tell me you have defaced the union flag,remember several years ago, some footie fans disrespected the turkish flag,sadlly one paid with his life,others badly beaten

squarefour


Joined: 01/03/2010
Posts: 21

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 15:42

The long rope at the bottom of the Union jack is referred to as the Monkeys tail and it was advisable to always check it was hanging down before raising the Flag to avoid the obvious error of raising it upside down.

Geoff


Joined: 25/06/2008
Posts: 1370

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 16:26

Who cares? Main thing is they were flying the union jack, and not some micky mouse flag such as the EU one!

Geoff

Famagusta City

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
26/10/2011 18:06

Has the Ipswich Town Pride of East Anglia Flag been in the shed since the 1980s and the Glory days of the late Bobby Robson ? (bless him).