upside-down flag

This morning I drove past a house where the flag was flying upside down. While I assume that this is in protest against the war, I did a little research on the reason, if any, for flying the flag upside down under correct flag etiquette.

“The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”

Now, having read this, I presume that this could be done for a number of reasons, and it is not clear, on the face of it, whether this is done as a protest against the actions of our nation, or in support of them. I guess this would largely depend on the age of the person occupying the house, and how old they were during WWII. But I could be way off base.

It is worthwhile, however, looking at the variety of web sites out there about flying the flag upside down, and the reasons given for it. Most of them are astonishingly shallow and narrow-minded, but a number of them are well thought out. I’ll leave it ambiguous which ones I think are which, and likewise will leave my opinions on our military action ambiguous.

God bless our men and women at the front, and God bless America.