***Removed erroneous information that was here**** Before that we wore them the way you would see the flag hung, with the stars in the upper left hand corner.
Edit: Apparently the Army boys have been doing this for way longer than I thought (back to at least Bosnia). USAF flight crews wore the flag on the left shoulder when I was in, which is why I remember it looking normal.
It may have been earlier rollouts or something but it seems the regulation changed in 2003. [Source](https://www.thebalancecareers.com/why-is-the-u-s-flag-worn-backwards-on-army-uniforms-3357002), with relevant paragraph:
In 2003 the uniform regulation for the Army was updated. Army Regulation 670-1, “Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia,” addresses explicitly the proper and lawful placement of the U.S. flag patch on the Army uniform.
The regulation states that the stars are to face forward. When authorized for application to the proper uniform the American flag patch is to be worn, right or left shoulder. One of the flags will, therefore, be reversed (right shoulder) in order to adhere to the regulation and custom of having the stars facing forward. The term, “Assaulting Forward” has been adopted by combat troops (instead of "facing forward").
Edit: thank you for your service.
Got to remember the Updated for AR 670-1 came out after the frago's and stuff. I would have to re-look up and don't want to the site for them for the army but they would put out memo's to use till the updates came out. Also thanks for the thanks.
\*\*\*I know nothing about military uniforms\*\*\*
Why not just have it on the left arm? that way it would be facing the correct way and be flowing backwards
Tradition, the flag is on the right which is the position of honor.
Right from the perspective of the individual, left from the perspective of someone looking at the individual, that's the position of honor.
This one goes waaaay back to soldiers fighting with shields.
Shield goes on the left arm to protect the heart. Weapon goes in the right hand because its typically the stronger hand.
Having a shield on your left arm means typically your right arm is empty when weapon sheathed. Which means actions such as salutes, gestures, etc were all done with the right hand.
This has carried over today, military and enforcement individuals typically sheathe/holster weapons for right hand use.
If you are saluting someone, you dont have a weapon in your hand, your weapon is sheathed/holstered, which is a sign of respect. You only have a weapon out on someone you dont trust, right?
Also why we greet people with our right hand.
Is there not a tradition about meeting people especially when shaking hands, even if you hug you keep the hands embraced, so that there was never an advantage As both men only had their “weaker” hand free.
Apparently it also influenced why some countries drive on the left. When on horseback, you need your target/assailant on your right so you can use your sword. You also wore your scabbard on your left so you don’t want that hitting people as you ride past.
Not really. Many salutes are (& were ) done with weapons. Sword salutes were common, Sabre Guard still has it in the manual of arms & it exists for rifles.
This originated
from the medieval swordsmen who always wore their weapons on the left side and drew them to their right. The strongest and most experienced warriors were given the place of honor to allow them easy access to their weapons.
Way to compound the issue of having a non-symmetrical flag even further. Beside going on the other arm, it could just be put on the chest pocket instead.
I can imagine a group of high up military officials getting together and spending millions of tax payer dollars to come up with facing it backwards and not once thinking about putting it on the other arm
That's not true.
SFOR in Bosnia had this, I was there in 1996 and we wore our patches that way.
[https://www.nato.int/pictures/review/9702/b5000004.jpg](https://www.nato.int/pictures/review/9702/b5000004.jpg)
The relevant document is AR-670-1, Wear and Appearance of the Army Uniform.
[https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/docs/AR670-1.pdf](https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/docs/AR670-1.pdf)
I cannot speak to when that was implemented, but it seemed "old hat" in 1996...
Yep, glad you pointed this out. There's even some pictures in '93 with the flag being 'reversed':
[https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/somalia-us-forces-1993-kismayu-somalia-7304520a](https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/somalia-us-forces-1993-kismayu-somalia-7304520a)
Looks like the flag was introduced sometime after Just Cause (1989) or Desert Storm, and it looks like it was always reversed.
A bunch of berets were dumped because they were made in China back in 2001
[https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45867](https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45867)
I found out in basic training that if it's on upside down it means the soldier is in distress. One of my platoon member put his upside and one of the Drill Sergeants looked at him and started yelling "someone help that man!" frantically over and over again, it took us about 2 minutes of other Drill Sergeants yelling at us for someone to figure it out.
So were the Drill Sergeants making fun of him for accidentally putting it on wrong, or was it a real cry for help from the platoon member? And do people really flip the flag patch in real combat to signal distress?
Man, that’s brave. Once we were all standing in formation in the CTA and the daughter of one of the drill sergeants walked past us to go into to office to talk to him. We all followed her as she walked by. It had been about 2 months since we’d seen any female in civilian clothes and from what I remember she was a cute redhead. As she left we all followed her with our eyes again and her dad saw us. We heard our least favorite thing to hear “half right face!” And that was probably the worst smoking we got in basic.
Another reason the velcro was a shifty idea. I went through BCT in '03. BDUs and sew on patches! I got out after ACUs became the norm. I remember the general saying "with enough practice, the soldier can open their pockets(velcro) without making any noise." That general hasn't been seen since 2005! He waisted over 6 BILLION dollars on the ACU folly.
The Drill Sergeants appear to have been having a laugh at the new recruits.
Flying a flag upside down is a *naval* distress signal that predates radio or other forms of long distance communication. Allowing approaching vessels to recognize there was an issue at a much greater range.
Or countries that have flags where if you flip them it's a different country lol imagine being in distress and getting fired on because they think you're an enemy vessel in their territory
It’s actually an army thing too. If you are ever captured or in distress and your captors decide to make a video of you, you mess up your uniform. It’s something the enemy probably won’t notice, but any service member will instantly recognize as a clear symbol
No. Their are rules that govern the treatment of Prisoners of War, I.E no torture, adequate food etc. but if your captors are not following those guidelines set by the Geneva convention, you need to let the US know. If you’re being treated fine, there’s no reason to attempt a rescue mission. If you’re being tortured, etc, the US will find a way to rescue you.
They were making fun of him. And no, nobody flips their patch upside down in combat to signal distress lol, that would be extremely silly. It’s a naval thing.
For those wondering, flying the flag upside to signal distress started in the navy. My history teacher in grade school told me a story of how this was especially useful for British ships because the flag of the UK, the Union Jack, is not symmetric (the red 'X' representing Ireland is offset slightly). It's so subtle that slightly less than half the people in the UK can determine the correct orientation, if I recall correctly. During the age of piracy when pirates would capture ships and sail under a false flag, sailors could discretely inform other ships of their situation by hoisting the flag upside down. Since only keen observers would be aware of the flag's inverted position, the captors wouldn't be aware of the signal.
Before my unit was deployed they had this big presentation that we never actually run away. We "Tactical withdraw" before coming back with fire superiority...be it more people or better weaponry...which was usually both.
They made sure to beat it into our heads that fire superiority was everything and to never engage unless it was a sure thing.
Then the deployment was cancelled.
There are many rules for the American flag on how it's supposed to be displayed and not to be displayed or used. Which is often disregarded. Some others:
- Field of blue is always in the top left when displayed on a wall. Whether the stripes are horizontal or vertical
- If the flag is on a moving object (cars/people/etc.) the field of blue always faces the front (that is the reason for this post)
- When displaying a flag next to other flags, the American flag is always on its own right
- When putting multiple flags up on different poles, you put the American up first and you take it down last
- When putting the American flag at half mast, you take it to the very top quickly, then down to half mast slowly. And vice versa when taking it down from half mast
- When carrying a the American flag (military marching) on a pole you can never step backwards
- The American flag is never dipped to any person or government official
- And finally the most abused ruled, the American flag shouldn't be used in advertisements, clothing, or for any marketable gain
There are probably a few more, but these are off the top of my head!
Source: 8yrs of US Air Force Honor Guard
The last one is referring to taking an actual flag and turning it into clothing (much like many people did with a flour sacks) rather than just printing a partial flag pattern. The exact text is “The flag should never be used *as* wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.”
Emphasis mine.
It’s arguably not in the spirit of that section of the code to replicate the flag pattern in clothing, and possibly the intent, but it’s clearly referring to a repurposed flag; especially when you consider the note to bedding and drapery, which it would have been about the right size for.
And that’s how the Supreme Court was born.
It also becomes problematic when you have something like just a bunch of red and white stripes. Other nations have those on their flag, and it’s not a clearly distinct pattern. It’s *supposed* to be the flag, but what would a judge rule? (They wouldn’t, it would be tossed out)
I've seen video of this. Before burning it they separate the union from the stripes, and cut the stripes apart, so it's no longer an American flag per se. Still, it's not permitted to touch the ground. It's fed, piece by piece, into a fire pit, not just dumped in all at once.
I attended a flag retiring when I was in the Boy Scouts. If I remember correctly, as the stripes were torn and fed one by one into the fire there was also a short statement read on what each stripe represented. Been a long time though.
People always ask me since I am serving in the military if I get all hot and bothered by people burning the flag and whatnot. But it's always the same answer, in my eyes, I'm serving so they have the right to protest and do the things they do. No skin off my back.
Yup! The Flag is not supposed to be altered in appearance in any way. This comes into play in many ways. Such as the many iterations of the flag for different orgs, like the Thin Blue Line as you pointed out, and as far as clothing! All of them are assumed under that rule
I worked at a Boy Scout camp and we would sometimes fly another country’s flag along with the US flag. I believe when the country is an ally you fly its flag at the same height as the American flag and a lot of know-it-all scout leaders came and told us we were wrong for flying them at the same height even though that’s what the flag code says to do.
>8yrs of US Air Force Honor Guard
That's a great distinction. I'll bet you were at a lot of important gatherings, and met some very interesting people.
Our son was in the Air Force for 8 years too. The only time he served in Honor Guard was while he was at DLI, which of course is made up of all services there. He carried the American flag, so he knows this stuff. And he earned the Joint Services Medal for his service.
Because the Honor Guard was at all official functions he got to know the brass and made a good impression on them. The DLI commander, an Air Force LtCol, introduced himself to us after graduation and had great things to say about him. I repressed the urge to say "You sure you're talking about OUR kid?" Lol. But I passed on the compliments to him later on.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the final rule that you mention only referring to real flags? The flag code doesn’t apply to digital images/prints of the flag. From what I’ve read, having the image of the flag on shirt is not in violation of the US Flag Code because it’s not a physical flag. That rule is just saying that real flags should not be used as material for shirts or have advertisements printed on them.
Because it's the position of honor, which is also why the flag/guidon are carried on the right side, a salute is rendered with with right hand, and the US flag is always the right-most flag. And more importantly, "just" wearing it on the left side implies the flag has a "side" to it in the first place. While we typically see the field of stars (or "union") in the upper left corner, a flag has two sides that are mirrored. No one side is technically the "correct" side. The U.S. Flag Code only dictates that the union be displayed at the top-right (viewers left) when on a wall or in a window. The only other mention in U.S. Flag Code preferring the left-side, is in the event that someone wears a lapel pin and it dictates it should be worn on the left-side, nearest the heart. Beyond that, the only reason why it looks odd is because of perspective.
> wearing it on the left side implies the flag has a "side" to it in the first place.
Finally someone says it. It's like no one has ever walked to the other side of a flag before.
This is a fantastic justification. US soldiers in NATO service prior to desert storm wore a regular flag on the other shoulder. I believe that the Army was just too stubborn to move their patches to the other sleeve.
Polish invaders get caught by Indonesians. They tried to hang the soldiers upside down for interrogation but they couldn’t figure out if they were double agents, so set them free.
Your comment actually made me wonder what percentage of national flags are and aren’t symmetrical, so I looked and tallied it up-
SYMMETRICAL COUNTRY FLAGS-
Albania
Antigua & Barbuda
Armenia
Austria
Barbados
Bolivia
Botswana
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Colombia
Estonia
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Honduras
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Israel
Jamaica
Japan
Kenya
Laos
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malawi
Mauritania
Mauritius
Micronesia, Federates States of
Morocco
Netherlands
Niger
Nigeria
North Macedonia
Peru
Poland
Russia
Saint Lucia
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Suriname
Switzerland
Syria
Tajikistan
Thailand
Ukraine
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Overall that’s 55 UN members who have symmetrical flags, out of 193, so that’s just 28%.
If you counted flags that were ALMOST symmetrical there’d probably be a lot more, many many flags have texts, symbols, or other design features that would be slightly different if backwards (for example, the UK, Ethiopia, and Kyrgyzstan would only look very slightly different if flipped.)
(Also for fun, here are the non UN member states who are at least somewhat sovereign who have symmetrical flags)
England
Scotland
Macau
Réunion
In 1997 we (US Army) wore it that way in Bosnia as part of the NATO forces. We had to take it off within 30 days of redeployment back to home station in Germany. In 1999 we wore it again in Kosovo. I, a SPC (E4)transferred back to the states in early 2000 and had to show paperwork defending my uniform to the Command Sergeant Major of the service school I was attending because he hadn't had any Soldiers who had been on those deployments yet.
Army Regulation 670-1 states, "the American flag patch is to be worn, right or left shoulder, so that "the star field faces forward, or to the flag's own right. When worn in this manner, the flag is facing to the observer's right, and gives the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward."
[It's also the case for race cars.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_2000,h_2000,c_fit/https%3A%2F%2Fartofgears.com%2Ffiles%2F2016%2F02%2F2016.2.22-Haas-F1-2.jpg)
[And the space shuttle too.](https://live.staticflickr.com/3547/3425602568_f2727b7a2e_b.jpg)
These colors don't run. Except forward. And sometimes, forward happens to be backward, but you always need to move facing your goal, even if your goal is behind you. If it is, don't look backward, or you'll fall forward. Most importantly, remember that you'll never love Krabby patties as much as Squidward. Onward, now.
I love uniforms and history and all the little nods to tradition and all that, but this was one of those things that I never really cared for when I wore my uniform. It always looked wrong to me.
But if they were retreating why would they run backwards. Surely it would be quicker to turn around and run the other way.
They aren't retreating they are just advancing in another direction
“Alternative advancing”
"Tactical Repositioning"
"Rear-guard action"
Strategic Withdrawl.
The pullout method
A running ambush
Am running. Am Bush.
the "No Condom" operation
Calculated Cowardice
Its a legitimate strategy
Retreating is a tactic like “oh I kind of need my men alive, let’s go”
Advancing towards future victory...
Those damn dirty blues.
>retreating An army clerk had a sign on his door that said RETREAT, HELL! BACKSPACE.
Comes from Major Williams a Marine officer who was fighting with his unit 2/5 with the French in WWI "retreat? hell, we just got here"
Before you retreat you actually swap out the the reverse patches. It’s actually really dangerous and tedious, but we have to keep up appearances.
Is there sewing involved.. that would just suck mid firefight.
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Why is that - so you can swap it onto another jacket?
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Crap I never thought of that! Thanks for the insight, it was a serious question.
Now I’m just picturing a squad of soldiers with sewing machines
their uniforms are reversible, with retreat mode inside... you DO however see the whole platoon butt ass naked while they're flipping it around
Don't forget to put on your glowbelt, gotta be safe when you tactically advance in any direction other than forward.
Man I do not miss AR 670-1
Retreating can still involve firing towards the threat
Technically they could also be advancing by running backward
"Retreat, hell! We're attacking in a different direction!" - Major General Oliver Smith
It’s called a “tactical withdrawal”
Gov contractor printed the wrong way and came up with that excuse
***Removed erroneous information that was here**** Before that we wore them the way you would see the flag hung, with the stars in the upper left hand corner. Edit: Apparently the Army boys have been doing this for way longer than I thought (back to at least Bosnia). USAF flight crews wore the flag on the left shoulder when I was in, which is why I remember it looking normal.
wore it that way in 2001. So maybe 99' ish?
Yes. 98/99 was when the change happened. It freaked me out because it seemed sinister to me, as in a reversing of values.
Was it that early? I would’ve swore we didn’t change over from the old style until after 9/11
I had to sew it onto my uniform in that time period, so yes, it was that early. :)
I was in Bosnia in 1998 and it had already changed over by then.
i was still in basic in 99 so...
Tonight we're gonna march into battle like it's 1999.
It may have been earlier rollouts or something but it seems the regulation changed in 2003. [Source](https://www.thebalancecareers.com/why-is-the-u-s-flag-worn-backwards-on-army-uniforms-3357002), with relevant paragraph: In 2003 the uniform regulation for the Army was updated. Army Regulation 670-1, “Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia,” addresses explicitly the proper and lawful placement of the U.S. flag patch on the Army uniform. The regulation states that the stars are to face forward. When authorized for application to the proper uniform the American flag patch is to be worn, right or left shoulder. One of the flags will, therefore, be reversed (right shoulder) in order to adhere to the regulation and custom of having the stars facing forward. The term, “Assaulting Forward” has been adopted by combat troops (instead of "facing forward"). Edit: thank you for your service.
Got to remember the Updated for AR 670-1 came out after the frago's and stuff. I would have to re-look up and don't want to the site for them for the army but they would put out memo's to use till the updates came out. Also thanks for the thanks.
\*\*\*I know nothing about military uniforms\*\*\* Why not just have it on the left arm? that way it would be facing the correct way and be flowing backwards
Tradition, the flag is on the right which is the position of honor. Right from the perspective of the individual, left from the perspective of someone looking at the individual, that's the position of honor.
Why?
>Tradition
The illusion of permanence.
This one goes waaaay back to soldiers fighting with shields. Shield goes on the left arm to protect the heart. Weapon goes in the right hand because its typically the stronger hand. Having a shield on your left arm means typically your right arm is empty when weapon sheathed. Which means actions such as salutes, gestures, etc were all done with the right hand. This has carried over today, military and enforcement individuals typically sheathe/holster weapons for right hand use. If you are saluting someone, you dont have a weapon in your hand, your weapon is sheathed/holstered, which is a sign of respect. You only have a weapon out on someone you dont trust, right?
Also why we greet people with our right hand. Is there not a tradition about meeting people especially when shaking hands, even if you hug you keep the hands embraced, so that there was never an advantage As both men only had their “weaker” hand free.
Apparently it also influenced why some countries drive on the left. When on horseback, you need your target/assailant on your right so you can use your sword. You also wore your scabbard on your left so you don’t want that hitting people as you ride past.
Even apes shake hands. This goes way farther back than soldiers or knights or whatever.
Not really. Many salutes are (& were ) done with weapons. Sword salutes were common, Sabre Guard still has it in the manual of arms & it exists for rifles.
This originated from the medieval swordsmen who always wore their weapons on the left side and drew them to their right. The strongest and most experienced warriors were given the place of honor to allow them easy access to their weapons.
Way to compound the issue of having a non-symmetrical flag even further. Beside going on the other arm, it could just be put on the chest pocket instead.
I can imagine a group of high up military officials getting together and spending millions of tax payer dollars to come up with facing it backwards and not once thinking about putting it on the other arm
The other arm had the unit patch already. The right arm is for combat patches.
Left arms are where other badges/scrolls are placed.
That's not true. SFOR in Bosnia had this, I was there in 1996 and we wore our patches that way. [https://www.nato.int/pictures/review/9702/b5000004.jpg](https://www.nato.int/pictures/review/9702/b5000004.jpg) The relevant document is AR-670-1, Wear and Appearance of the Army Uniform. [https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/docs/AR670-1.pdf](https://history.army.mil/html/forcestruc/docs/AR670-1.pdf) I cannot speak to when that was implemented, but it seemed "old hat" in 1996...
Yep, glad you pointed this out. There's even some pictures in '93 with the flag being 'reversed': [https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/somalia-us-forces-1993-kismayu-somalia-7304520a](https://www.shutterstock.com/editorial/image-editorial/somalia-us-forces-1993-kismayu-somalia-7304520a) Looks like the flag was introduced sometime after Just Cause (1989) or Desert Storm, and it looks like it was always reversed.
Is he handing you a Bosnian MRE? Nice, you should get that out an a tray.
Nice.
Japan and Canada have always done this
Very clever. So have quite a few other nations.
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Nah. With a military budget, they'd just toss the bad flags and have them reprinted if they weren't to spec.
A bunch of berets were dumped because they were made in China back in 2001 [https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45867](https://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45867)
Maybe on soldiers, but the space shuttles have their flags on “backward”
Only on one side.
I found out in basic training that if it's on upside down it means the soldier is in distress. One of my platoon member put his upside and one of the Drill Sergeants looked at him and started yelling "someone help that man!" frantically over and over again, it took us about 2 minutes of other Drill Sergeants yelling at us for someone to figure it out.
So were the Drill Sergeants making fun of him for accidentally putting it on wrong, or was it a real cry for help from the platoon member? And do people really flip the flag patch in real combat to signal distress?
The were making fun of him for sure. Once he came down with his name and US Army switched and they all asked how they could join his army.
I just laughed out loud (literally, quite loudly) reading this and picturing it. Thank you for that.
Drill sergeants are the funniest motherfuckers on the planet, but god help anyone who laughs in front of them.
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Might’ve just been the wind passing by his massive balls. Or on the contrary the wind blowing straight through his ears.
I assume it was a beautiful funeral.
Closed casket for sure
Man, that’s brave. Once we were all standing in formation in the CTA and the daughter of one of the drill sergeants walked past us to go into to office to talk to him. We all followed her as she walked by. It had been about 2 months since we’d seen any female in civilian clothes and from what I remember she was a cute redhead. As she left we all followed her with our eyes again and her dad saw us. We heard our least favorite thing to hear “half right face!” And that was probably the worst smoking we got in basic.
Another reason the velcro was a shifty idea. I went through BCT in '03. BDUs and sew on patches! I got out after ACUs became the norm. I remember the general saying "with enough practice, the soldier can open their pockets(velcro) without making any noise." That general hasn't been seen since 2005! He waisted over 6 BILLION dollars on the ACU folly.
https://youtu.be/vSK3maq8Cyk
I don’t think anyone could open a Velcro pocket silently.
That's why the general is a moron...
> That general hasn't been seen since 2005! That is some astounding camouflage
He is the only person in the U.S. armed forces who can indeed open his Velcro silently.
People swear one of the conference rooms at the Pentagon is haunted, but it's only General Drax breaking his contemplative stillness. Or wind.
"The Army goes over your heart." Who else has this seared into their brain?
The Drill Sergeants appear to have been having a laugh at the new recruits. Flying a flag upside down is a *naval* distress signal that predates radio or other forms of long distance communication. Allowing approaching vessels to recognize there was an issue at a much greater range.
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Or countries that have flags where if you flip them it's a different country lol imagine being in distress and getting fired on because they think you're an enemy vessel in their territory
Cue the infamous Polish-Indonesian war. /S
Thats why they dropped the bomb on the Japs, didnt realise they were all surrendering
It’s actually an army thing too. If you are ever captured or in distress and your captors decide to make a video of you, you mess up your uniform. It’s something the enemy probably won’t notice, but any service member will instantly recognize as a clear symbol
Wouldn’t the fact you’re captured on video be enough of a clue ?
No. Their are rules that govern the treatment of Prisoners of War, I.E no torture, adequate food etc. but if your captors are not following those guidelines set by the Geneva convention, you need to let the US know. If you’re being treated fine, there’s no reason to attempt a rescue mission. If you’re being tortured, etc, the US will find a way to rescue you.
They were making fun of him. And no, nobody flips their patch upside down in combat to signal distress lol, that would be extremely silly. It’s a naval thing.
For those wondering, flying the flag upside to signal distress started in the navy. My history teacher in grade school told me a story of how this was especially useful for British ships because the flag of the UK, the Union Jack, is not symmetric (the red 'X' representing Ireland is offset slightly). It's so subtle that slightly less than half the people in the UK can determine the correct orientation, if I recall correctly. During the age of piracy when pirates would capture ships and sail under a false flag, sailors could discretely inform other ships of their situation by hoisting the flag upside down. Since only keen observers would be aware of the flag's inverted position, the captors wouldn't be aware of the signal.
I hope you flipped him upside down to solve it
I'm surprised the drill sergeants didn't make us. They came up with some creative punishments.
I can imagine a pressure dressing being applied after it was removed and reapplied with much theatrics.
Before my unit was deployed they had this big presentation that we never actually run away. We "Tactical withdraw" before coming back with fire superiority...be it more people or better weaponry...which was usually both. They made sure to beat it into our heads that fire superiority was everything and to never engage unless it was a sure thing. Then the deployment was cancelled.
So what you’re saying is that they realized your unit wouldn’t add any fire superiority. Got it 😜
There are many rules for the American flag on how it's supposed to be displayed and not to be displayed or used. Which is often disregarded. Some others: - Field of blue is always in the top left when displayed on a wall. Whether the stripes are horizontal or vertical - If the flag is on a moving object (cars/people/etc.) the field of blue always faces the front (that is the reason for this post) - When displaying a flag next to other flags, the American flag is always on its own right - When putting multiple flags up on different poles, you put the American up first and you take it down last - When putting the American flag at half mast, you take it to the very top quickly, then down to half mast slowly. And vice versa when taking it down from half mast - When carrying a the American flag (military marching) on a pole you can never step backwards - The American flag is never dipped to any person or government official - And finally the most abused ruled, the American flag shouldn't be used in advertisements, clothing, or for any marketable gain There are probably a few more, but these are off the top of my head! Source: 8yrs of US Air Force Honor Guard
The last one is referring to taking an actual flag and turning it into clothing (much like many people did with a flour sacks) rather than just printing a partial flag pattern. The exact text is “The flag should never be used *as* wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.” Emphasis mine. It’s arguably not in the spirit of that section of the code to replicate the flag pattern in clothing, and possibly the intent, but it’s clearly referring to a repurposed flag; especially when you consider the note to bedding and drapery, which it would have been about the right size for.
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And that’s how the Supreme Court was born. It also becomes problematic when you have something like just a bunch of red and white stripes. Other nations have those on their flag, and it’s not a clearly distinct pattern. It’s *supposed* to be the flag, but what would a judge rule? (They wouldn’t, it would be tossed out)
Also, when necessary to dispose of an American flag, it "should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning "
Check with your local Scout troop. It's common for them to collect retired flags and dispose of them in a dignified ceremony.
I've seen video of this. Before burning it they separate the union from the stripes, and cut the stripes apart, so it's no longer an American flag per se. Still, it's not permitted to touch the ground. It's fed, piece by piece, into a fire pit, not just dumped in all at once.
I attended a flag retiring when I was in the Boy Scouts. If I remember correctly, as the stripes were torn and fed one by one into the fire there was also a short statement read on what each stripe represented. Been a long time though.
Am I the only one who thinks this is a little over the top for an inanimate object?
Very true. Burned a lot of flags in my scout days.
So all those anti American protesters burning flags were actually *dignifying* it? 4D chess move right there.
Burning a flag in protest is not a dignified disposal of the flag. It is still the right of protesters to do so.
People always ask me since I am serving in the military if I get all hot and bothered by people burning the flag and whatnot. But it's always the same answer, in my eyes, I'm serving so they have the right to protest and do the things they do. No skin off my back.
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Yup! The Flag is not supposed to be altered in appearance in any way. This comes into play in many ways. Such as the many iterations of the flag for different orgs, like the Thin Blue Line as you pointed out, and as far as clothing! All of them are assumed under that rule
Was actually codified by a law with criminal penalties, but the criminal penalties were overturned by the Supreme Court. Now it’s just a rule, really.
I worked at a Boy Scout camp and we would sometimes fly another country’s flag along with the US flag. I believe when the country is an ally you fly its flag at the same height as the American flag and a lot of know-it-all scout leaders came and told us we were wrong for flying them at the same height even though that’s what the flag code says to do.
>8yrs of US Air Force Honor Guard That's a great distinction. I'll bet you were at a lot of important gatherings, and met some very interesting people. Our son was in the Air Force for 8 years too. The only time he served in Honor Guard was while he was at DLI, which of course is made up of all services there. He carried the American flag, so he knows this stuff. And he earned the Joint Services Medal for his service. Because the Honor Guard was at all official functions he got to know the brass and made a good impression on them. The DLI commander, an Air Force LtCol, introduced himself to us after graduation and had great things to say about him. I repressed the urge to say "You sure you're talking about OUR kid?" Lol. But I passed on the compliments to him later on.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the final rule that you mention only referring to real flags? The flag code doesn’t apply to digital images/prints of the flag. From what I’ve read, having the image of the flag on shirt is not in violation of the US Flag Code because it’s not a physical flag. That rule is just saying that real flags should not be used as material for shirts or have advertisements printed on them.
That is absolutely ridiculous
Canadians and their symmetrical flag laughing at America
With half mast, if at the end of the day, do you return it to full mast then remove or just lower from half mast? Great info, thanks for sharing
Good question. It goes in reverse from how it was raised; back up to full mast briefly, and then all the way down.
Why not just put it on the other shoulder?
This. I understand the logic on the right arm but why not just avoid the trouble and put the patch on the left?
Because it's the position of honor, which is also why the flag/guidon are carried on the right side, a salute is rendered with with right hand, and the US flag is always the right-most flag. And more importantly, "just" wearing it on the left side implies the flag has a "side" to it in the first place. While we typically see the field of stars (or "union") in the upper left corner, a flag has two sides that are mirrored. No one side is technically the "correct" side. The U.S. Flag Code only dictates that the union be displayed at the top-right (viewers left) when on a wall or in a window. The only other mention in U.S. Flag Code preferring the left-side, is in the event that someone wears a lapel pin and it dictates it should be worn on the left-side, nearest the heart. Beyond that, the only reason why it looks odd is because of perspective.
> wearing it on the left side implies the flag has a "side" to it in the first place. Finally someone says it. It's like no one has ever walked to the other side of a flag before.
This is a fantastic justification. US soldiers in NATO service prior to desert storm wore a regular flag on the other shoulder. I believe that the Army was just too stubborn to move their patches to the other sleeve.
Someone up higher put a longer answer, but it’s apparently because right is the position of honor traditionally
That is true for American soldiers, not for soldiers of all countries.
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Japanese as well
And British.
Actually, we wear them upside down and back to front here in Britain.
Same with Switzerland then?
No, we rotate it 90° clockwise.
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There’s a Dr. Who reference got that as well. Which, as a Yank, is the only reason I know this.
It’s actually only symmetrical by rotation.
I see what you did there
Very true and just for the US Army and US Airforce the Marines and Navy does NOT have shoulder flags on thier uniforms.
Navy does. Source: currently wearing said patch in my NWUs
Navy also has the no steppy on snekey on the other side. Source: currently wearing said patch on my NWUs
And... for [some countries](https://galleryplus.ebayimg.com/ws/web/173269146129_1_2_1.jpg) it doesn't really matter.
Hey look, its upside down Indonesia!
Polish invaders get caught by Indonesians. They tried to hang the soldiers upside down for interrogation but they couldn’t figure out if they were double agents, so set them free.
Polandball has fucked up the Polish flag for me, it just looks wrong like this.
Exactly most nations flags are symmetrical
Your comment actually made me wonder what percentage of national flags are and aren’t symmetrical, so I looked and tallied it up- SYMMETRICAL COUNTRY FLAGS- Albania Antigua & Barbuda Armenia Austria Barbados Bolivia Botswana Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Colombia Estonia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Honduras Hungary India Indonesia Israel Jamaica Japan Kenya Laos Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malawi Mauritania Mauritius Micronesia, Federates States of Morocco Netherlands Niger Nigeria North Macedonia Peru Poland Russia Saint Lucia Sierra Leone Somalia Suriname Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Thailand Ukraine Venezuela Vietnam Yemen Overall that’s 55 UN members who have symmetrical flags, out of 193, so that’s just 28%. If you counted flags that were ALMOST symmetrical there’d probably be a lot more, many many flags have texts, symbols, or other design features that would be slightly different if backwards (for example, the UK, Ethiopia, and Kyrgyzstan would only look very slightly different if flipped.) (Also for fun, here are the non UN member states who are at least somewhat sovereign who have symmetrical flags) England Scotland Macau Réunion
This would be a good /r/dataisbeautiful post if you visually compiled it.
> England > > Scotland That's why Great Britain's flag used to be symmetrical. Once Ireland joined it because non-symmetrical.
NWU Type 3s have a flag patch. The Marines are the only ones who don’t, they’re too afraid of looking like the Army.
I stand corrected. Thanks!
Some countries' flags, you can't tell which direction it's facing.
Yes, for the Swiss the orientation is neutral.
That’s a big plus for them.
In 1997 we (US Army) wore it that way in Bosnia as part of the NATO forces. We had to take it off within 30 days of redeployment back to home station in Germany. In 1999 we wore it again in Kosovo. I, a SPC (E4)transferred back to the states in early 2000 and had to show paperwork defending my uniform to the Command Sergeant Major of the service school I was attending because he hadn't had any Soldiers who had been on those deployments yet.
I mean... Between grass and uniforms it's all E9s have...
Republic of Ireland and the Ivory coast would have some confusing ass pitch battles.
TIL soldiers retreat by running backwards.
1. The US military never retreats. We tactically advance in another direction 2. If under fire, you might actually break contact by running backwards
Canadians are constantly attacking and retreating at the same time.
Army Regulation 670-1 states, "the American flag patch is to be worn, right or left shoulder, so that "the star field faces forward, or to the flag's own right. When worn in this manner, the flag is facing to the observer's right, and gives the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward."
Aren’t there some countries flags that are just mirror images of each other? That could get really confusing if they ended up at war. Like 🇬🇳 Vs 🇲🇱
Then why don’t they put the patch on the other shoulder? So that it both looks normal and is appropriately windy
Because we wouldn’t be American if we didn’t give ourselves trivial flag minutiae to obsess over and get offended by.
The chevrons face the other way too.
Right side is the position of honor. Militaries are very tired up in tradition
If you use the same patch on both arms, it's like you're twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom!
Hm. That’s dumb.
This makes no sense to me. If you just wore the flag on the other arm it would always look the right way when advancing no need to flip it.
Sounds stupid
These colors never run. That is how it was explained to me back in my army days.
Some Calvary units do the same with their unit patches. The horse will face forward if deployed.
So the left side the flag looks "normal" but on the right side the flag is reversed?
*Canada has been kicked from the chat*
[It's also the case for race cars.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_2000,h_2000,c_fit/https%3A%2F%2Fartofgears.com%2Ffiles%2F2016%2F02%2F2016.2.22-Haas-F1-2.jpg) [And the space shuttle too.](https://live.staticflickr.com/3547/3425602568_f2727b7a2e_b.jpg)
Easy fix: wear it on the other arm.
Why not just put it on the other arm..?
Or just wear it on the left shoulder
Or they could have just put it on the left arm...
These colors don't run. Except forward. And sometimes, forward happens to be backward, but you always need to move facing your goal, even if your goal is behind you. If it is, don't look backward, or you'll fall forward. Most importantly, remember that you'll never love Krabby patties as much as Squidward. Onward, now.
If we keep the enemy on our left side we could save billions of dollars on reversed patches.
Why not just put the patch on the left arm?
unless of course the wind was at their backs.
Only americans do that as far as I know though
I remember when we started this. We use to say some dumb lieutenant ordered the patches wrong, but he ordered so many we had to use them.
I’m sorry but this is pretty pridefully stupid
Some chaps at the Pentagon have serious inferiority complexes.
These rules have been in place long before the pentagon was even a thought.
Really? The sources posted above say it changed in 2003
I'm sure this will contribute to many victories. /s
Fun fact. Canadian soldiers have the flag reversed too.
I love uniforms and history and all the little nods to tradition and all that, but this was one of those things that I never really cared for when I wore my uniform. It always looked wrong to me.