What an Inverted US Flag Means & Why You’re Seeing It

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Global flag expert Thanos Sekeris explains why someone might fly a flag upside-down

Co-authored by Thanos Sekeris and Dan Hickey

Last Updated: March 31, 2026 Fact Checked

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Meaning

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Is it legal?

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Is it right- or left-wing?

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Examples & Controversies

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US Flag Code

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Video

An upside-down American flag can be a strange and alarming sight, and for good reason. An inverted flag typically signals extreme distress or danger, but what does this mean for Americans today? We partnered with global flag experts to help us explore what the upside-down flag really means and why it’s been flown lately, plus whether it’s legal to fly it upside-down in the first place. We’ll also cover the proper way to display an American flag according to the US Flag Code.

What does an upside-down flag mean?

Global flag expert Thanos Sekeris says that an upside-down flag is a distress signal. The US Flag Code states that the American flag should not be flown upside-down except as a “signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” Upside-down flags are also used as a symbol of political protest.

Section 1 of 5:

Upside Down American Flag Meaning

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According to the US Flag Code, “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.”^{[1]
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Research source} This might include instances where your personal safety or the safety of the house, vessel, or building you’re in is threatened by conflict, violence, natural disasters, or another type of attack.

Meet the wikiHow Experts

Thanos Sekeris is a flag expert based in London, UK. Online, he’s known as the FlagFluencer, and he creates content sharing his passion and knowledge of flags.

Gray McCoy is a global flag expert based in Little Rock, Arkansas. His family business, Flag and Banner, has been a distributor, retailer, and manufacturer of flags for 50 years. Flag and Banner also posts flag-related content on YouTube.
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More broadly, an upside-down flag is a symbol of political protest or unrest. Sekeris explains that “Putting a flag upside down tends to signal some sort of distress, and this tends to happen quite a bit in protests.”^{[2]
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Expert Source

Thanos Sekeris
Global Flag Expert

Expert Interview} This isn’t the intent of flying the flag upside down, but it has become a popular symbol of resistance toward the federal government or dissent on decisions of the country in recent decades.^{[3]
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- For example, seeing an inverted flag could be used to call for reform or bring public awareness to a preventable crisis, like the gun violence epidemic, or even to promote conspiracy theories, like false claims of election interference.
- It has also been used to signal disagreement with the outcomes of high-profile trials of politicians.
- The inverted flag first became a popular protest symbol during the Vietnam War in the 1970s.^{[4]
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Historically, an upside-down flag signaled a ship in distress at sea. In the past, national flags were more common at sea than on land (it helped sailors identify the nationality of nearby vessels during wartime, and an absence of a flag could even indicate pirates). An inverted flag was the easiest way to signal distress without needing an additional special flag or symbol.^{[5]
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- Some of the earliest inverted US flags were seen on American lifeboats during the 18th century.
- The practice of flying flags upside down at sea dates back to the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century.

Section 2 of 5:

Is it legal to fly the US flag upside down?

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Yes, an upside-down US flag is free speech protected by the First Amendment. While the US Flag Code prohibits the upside-down flying of the flag except in real danger, the Code is not legally enforceable.^{[6]
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Research source} Inverting or otherwise altering or “misusing” the flag is considered symbolic speech that is protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution, and several notable Supreme Court cases have upheld this principle:
- Spence v. Washington (1974): The Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protected the right to desecrate the American flag as a form of symbolic protest. In this case, student Harold Omand Spence had taped peace symbols to both sides of the flag and hung it upside down from his dorm room window to protest the 1970 killings of anti-Vietnam protestors at Kent State University.^{[7]
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- Texas v. Johnson (1989): The Supreme Court struck down a Texas law against flag desecration, ruling that burning the American flag was protected speech by the First Amendment. Gregory Lee Johnson had burned a flag outside the 1984 Republican National Convention to protest the policies of Ronald Reagan.^{[8]
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- United States v. Eichman (1990): The Supreme Court ruled that Congress’s Flag Protection Act of 1989, passed in response to Texas v. Johnson to authorize the criminal conviction of anyone who knowingly desecrated the flag, was unconstitutional as it was content-based and violated the First Amendment.^{[9]
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Section 3 of 5:

Is an upside-down American flag right-wing or left-wing?

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The upside-down flag has been used in protest by both the left and the right. Both sides of the political spectrum have used the inverted American flag to protest and signal their discontent with the actions of the federal government and the state of the country in recent years. The upside-down flag has been seen at protests for a wide variety of causes, including everything from inaction on gun violence and the overturning of Roe v. Wade (left-wing causes) to the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021 (a far-right-wing cause).^{[10]
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- Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, upside-down flags were mostly displayed by single protestors, largely with left-wing ideology. During the Obama administration, though, extremist right-wing groups began also using the inverted flag as a collective symbol of protest.
- For example, the Tea Party movement waved upside-down flags to protest Obama’s reelection in 2012, and the white nationalist group Patriot Front has shown up to protests bearing upside-down U.S. flags.

Section 4 of 5:

Recent Examples & Controversies

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The United States Capitol Attack (January 6, 2021) Inspired by false claims from President Trump about election interference schemes, a violent mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, to stop the certification of the election results as part of the “Stop the Steal” movement. Participants in the attack were seen flying upside-down American flags, signaling their protest against Trump’s election loss.^{[11]
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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s home (January 17, 2021) Shortly after the Capitol attack, an upside-down American flag was seen hanging outside of Justice Alito’s home. Many interpreted this to mean he was allied with the Stop the Steal cause and could not be impartial when trying cases against “January 6ers.” Justice Alito claimed flying the flag was a distress response to a verbal confrontation from a neighbor and a sign on the street saying “You are complicit,” directed at his home.^{[12]
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- However, later information revealed that the confrontation in question occurred on February 15, and the upside-down flag had been seen flying as early as January 17.
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The overturning of Roe v. Wade (June 24, 2022) After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade (1973), a ruling which granted the constitutional right to abortion under the Fourteenth Amendment, many pro-choice advocates and protestors against the highly conservative Supreme Court flew upside-down US flags to signal their distress and disagreement with the ruling.^{[13]
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Donald Trump found guilty of election interference (May 30, 2024) A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records (all felonies) to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. In response to the ruling, far-right Congressional representatives, media hosts, and Stop the Steal organizers shared images of the upside-down flag on social media to voice their opposition to the ruling.^{[14]
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Yosemite National Park protest (February 22, 2025) National Park employees hung an upside-down flag at the summit of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park to protest the Trump administration’s cuts of national park service employees. The flag was hung during the popular firefall viewing event, where the park welcomes many visitors, to increase visibility.^{[15]
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Current protests against ICE, the war in Iran, economic policy, and more The upside-down US flag continues to be flown as a symbol of resistance against the policies and actions of the second Trump administration at protests and outside some churches and community organizations. The protestors claim that the administration’s federal layoffs, destructive tariff policy, demonizing of immigrants, and weaponization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against citizens signal that America is in a state of emergency.^{[16]
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Section 5 of 5:

Full US Flag Code

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The US Flag Code details the proper ways to display and dispose of the flag. In addition to saying that the flag should not be flown upside down except “as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property,” there are a number of other rules that govern how and where you can fly the US flag:^{[17]
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- The flag should never touch anything beneath it (like the ground, water, floor, or merchandise).
- The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free, when possible.
- The flag should never be used for clothing, bedding, or drapery, and should always hang freely (no bunching or festooning).
- The flag should never be fastened, displayed, stored, or used in a way that it can get easily soiled or damaged.
- The flag should never be used as a covering for a ceiling.
- The flag should never have any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing placed upon it.
- The flag should never be used to receive, hold, carry, or deliver something.
- The flag cannot be used in advertising or impressed on anything that is designed for temporary use, like napkins or paper plates.
- The flag cannot be used as a costume or athletic uniform, but patches may be attached to the uniforms of military personnel, firemen, policemen, and members of patriotic organizations.
- A lapel of the flag should always be worn on the left lapel near the heart.
- When the flag is no longer in presentable condition, it should be disposed of respectfully (preferably by burning).
EXPERT TIP

Gray McCoy
Global Flag Expert
Gray McCoy is a global flag expert based in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 2017, Gray formally joined his family business, Flag and Banner, which has been a distributor, retailer, and manufacturer of flags for 50 years. With a team of experts, Flag and Banner also provides educational content and tutorials on YouTube, including deep dives into flag history, proper flag care and folding etiquette, and other content covering American, state, international, and nautical flags. Gray has been the co-producer and host of the series Flag Facts since 2023, providing expert commentary on a variety of flags from around the US.

Gray McCoy
Global Flag Expert

Hang the flag the correct way, horizontally or vertically. If you want the stripes hanging horizontally, position the blue canton (the star field in the top left-hand corner) at the top left. If you’re hanging the stripes vertically, place it in the top left as well.
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Additional guidelines exist to help you display the flag respectfully. Like the Flag Code, these etiquette tips for displaying the flag are not legally enforceable. Instead, they exist to show respect to the flag and what it stands for in various situations:^{[18]
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- For speaking engagements: The flag should be positioned to its own right (to the right of the speaker from their perspective) with other flags to the left.
- When crossed with another flag: The US flag should always be on the observer’s left with its staff crossing over the staff of the other flag.
- Over a street: The flag should be hung vertically with the blue canton in the top left.
- With other flags: When multiple flags are flown from separate poles of the same height, the US flag should always be to the observer’s left. No lesser flags (like those of states or cities) may be larger than it, but flags of different nations must be the same size.
- On a staff: When hung from a staff projecting from a window, balcony, or building, the blue canton should be at the peak of the staff (unless the flag is at half-staff, indicating mourning).
  - If there are other flags on the pole (like for a state, community, society), the US flag should always be at the top (a church pennant may be flown above the flag during church services for Navy personnel at sea).
- When raising or lowering: The flag should be raised quickly, but lowered slowly and deliberately. It is typically lowered at sundown and must be illuminated if kept up at night.