To think if you're that fond/proud of your national flag, you should probably know which way up it goes?

[Nookfoot]

Of all the Union Flags that have appeared, a huge percentage seem to be upside-down.

Now, I agree with the basic sentiment that people should be able to display their national flag if they choose, that flags should be respected. I think it's very sad that the flag has been appropriated by right wing groups/views.

Which ever camp you fall in, if you're going to put it up, put it the right way up. They're really doing the opposite of respecting it other wise!

I really don’t understand this. I’ve tried turning a picture of the Union flag upside down & it just looks the same both ways. Is it somehow back to front and upside down? Am I going to have to buy one & try it different ways up to find out? (Maybe I could attach it to a lamp post afterwards.)
This all seems a bit like ‘Cholmondeley’ being pronounced ‘Chumley’- a strange test.

Flags can be quite expensive, it's probably what they can afford.

I mean, pretty much everyone who isn't sticking up a flag on their street to try and signal that they want it to be a white only area has the moral high ground.

I feel zero compulsion to attach any flags from any lamp posts but I still understand this:

Cannae fly a Saltire upside down as it's symmetrical, whit makes it clear that it's a superior flag. (Ye could fly a Lion Rampant upside down, but please don't as it would make the lion dizzy.)

If ye must fly a union flag, keep in mind that the St. Andrew's cross of Scotland is superimposed ABOVE the St. Patrick's cross of (Northern in this case) Ireland on the left side of the flag (close to the flag pole) and vice versa on the right side. Once you see it, it's easy to do it right. And yes, of course the UK Union flag is lacking; it should have a tiny little Welsh dragon running tirelessly up and down the spokes of the existing crosses, obviously.

Yes Wales definitely gets the bum deal, flagwise.

Only a Union Jack when on a boat. It’s the Union FLAG!

Wales DOES have dragons! How very dare you! AND they are RED!

St. George was not "Turkish" in the modern sense. He was a Greek-speaker born in Cappadocia, an ancient region now in Turkey, but the term "Turkey" and Turkish people in the area did not exist until centuries after his life in the Roman era.

Unlikely. In these cases, I expect the flyers are just a bit thick.

People act like Brexit was the first time thick people voted. Thick people have always voted, the only difference is that the Internet has given them a platform to share and validate their thick opinions, that were previously confined to their homes, workplaces and local pubs.

Voting to end freedom of movement within Europe because you don't like brown people is only marginally more thick than the generations who voted for the same party as their parents because "This is a Labour/Conservative/Lib-Dem" house.

Well actually it does very much matter, it's about standards . . . (pun intended).

This stupid flag nonsense will all go away very quickly.

I do love the EU remainer zealotry on this thread though. Even the smallest opportunity to lecture people about Brexit…and they’re off.

I voted against leaving the EU and was sad that we did. But it doesn't rule my life and I’ve moved on. I increasingly think there’s a nasty middle class holier-than-thou tendency at work about the aftermath of Brexit, a sort of political version of scoffing at children wearing football shirts or families enjoying Center Parcs.

Oh dont worry, I laugh at the right wingers getting their knickers in a twist the other way as well.

You are ALL fucking nutjobs, and the world is fucked.

Might as well enjoy the show.

I hate everyone equally. The sooner humanity wraps itself up the better.

Sounds like you're simply bashing people for being patriotic. Perhaps if everyone joined in with celebrating the UK, and EVERYONE put up a flag, it would never have been associated with far-right ideology in the first place. Did you ever think about that?

The criticism directed at people who are patriotic is, in my view, nothing more than snobby elitism and this post seems full of that and not much else.

I thought the right way to display the union flag was determined by the pole. So if there is no pole do we always presume the pole is on the left?

https://hopenothate.org.uk/2025/08/22/operation-raise-the-colours-organised-by-well-known-far-right-extremists/

Please read above - Hope not Hate are experts on far right extremism

Hope not Hate are paid by the government to agitate to make it look like people who have opinions that go against the government are 'far right'. I thought everyone knew this now. They should be called Hate not Hope.

Not true. Around 10 per cent of their income - for specific projects - comes from government grants. The rest is income from other sources including charitable foundations and public donations. I have just looked at their page on the charity commission website to check . They are about truth and about hope. The far right is about hate.

The Union flag is not a national one. The United Kingdom is a union of nations, not a nation.

The point about flying any flag correctly and not upside down is valid I think though.

NRTFT but I didn't even know the red St. Andrew's cross isn't equidistant between the red St. George's cross let alone there was a right way up!!!

Most of the people wanting to fly it (not for official reasons) are probably as thick as mince and believe immigrants stole their jobs.

The most basic reasons why we dont know "which way up our flag goes" is because for over twenty years (probably more) we have been told its a symbol of racism not national pride and I think we need to address that why have we let that happen? Everyone else is proud of their flag you dont see the national flag in other countries being called a symbol of extremists so why here?

At the moment, it's being co-opted by racists. Which is why it's become such an issue. The St George cross and the union flag do belong to us all, but people are worried about the association with far right wing nationalism. Which is ugly. There is nothing joyous and celebratory about the current flag waving.

I'm old enough to remember the NF, and their use of the flags. Racist, violent scum.

I'm not sure how we recover our flags from these connotations.

When did it become racist to put up flags on lamp posts?

I was in Windsor recently and saw union jacks everywhere? Is the town of Windsor racist because they had Union jacks flying everywhere?

I know this is purposely disingenuous, but yes, totally the same, a town steeped in royal history, visited by millions of tourists. Flying flags there is exactly the same as suddenly hanging 100s of cheap nylon flags half way up lampposts, secured by cable ties, in towns and villages where the inhabitants boast of their support for reform UK and 'taking back control' (of what, I'm never sure).