Dispelling Some Myths: A Union Flag in distress

In April 2024 Tastes Of History wrote an article to dispel a couple of popular myths concerning the flying of the Union Flag upside down. The article has received some comments; some more enlightened than others. One deserves an addendum to the original article to clarify that “[I]f hung horizontally or vertically [on a flat surface], the broad white diagonal should be uppermost in the top-left corner.” So, technically whoever hung the flag may have unintentionally done so upside down. But to be charitable, this flag is in a primary school, and if you know anything about the educational sphere then you will know teachers face far too many pressures in multiple different areas for simple mistakes like this to happen. So, while first forgiving whoever made this easily made mistake let us turn to one of the other comments challenging our claim that flying the Union Flag upside down as a distress signal was a myth.

“No names, no pack drill” [1] but the comment in question reads as follows:

“You can not [sic] prove if it was or was not used upside down as a distress signal. Saying it would not be noticed from a distance is moot. It was meant to be a subtle warning so the enemy very probably would not notice it. As I remember it, it was done if the building/base had infiltrators in it to warn those approaching it. It may not have been an official thing to do, but appears to have been done somewhere at some point due to the widespread stories of it.”

The writer of this comment will remain anonymous, but the content gives us an opportunity to critically think about the claims being made. We stress that what follows is not an attack on the person - a roasting if you prefer - since Tastes Of History believes that sort of approach is negative, unnecessary and perpetuates ignorance. Rather we contend that dissecting the claims made will reveal the fragility of the argument but perhaps offer us all a chance to learn. We hope, dear reader, you will agree.

With that caveat in mind, let us begin. The comment writer’s reference to “the enemy” and “the building/base” strongly suggests they are thinking largely in military terms so let us stick with that premise. For many decades now modern armed forces have used encrypted communications. Were a “Forward Operating Base” (FOB) or “Fire Support Base” (FSB) in a hostile or a semi-permissive environment be under attack, being infiltrated or about to be overwhelmed, then the communications network(s) would be awash with information, situation reports (sitreps), updates and requests for support. On operations to hear the phrase “troops in contact” (or something similar) focuses all attention on the troops in question such that friendly forces will be instantly aware of any actual or developing situation, and ready to help. The need to issue a “subtle warning so the enemy very probably would not notice it” does not therefore stand up to scrutiny. Firstly, noticing a Union Flag being flown upside down from a distance is not exactly moot. As we said in the earlier article: “to a casual observer or someone unfamiliar with the flag’s design it is not very easy to spot whether it is orientated correctly”. The chances with the enemy’s focus wholly on assaulting the base and, if under fire, they would care little for an upside down flag whether they realised its supposed significance as a “distress signal” or not.

One would like to think that military personnel would notice but would they see it was a “subtle warning” something was amiss, or would the typical “squaddie” simply think that someone had made a massive, punishable mistake (while perhaps thankful they had not done it). After serving for nearly a quarter of a century in the British Army, alongside Royal Navy and Royal Air Force personnel, the author has never encountered this idea that flying the flag upside down was a distress signal. No official Ministry of Defence (MoD) or individual service standing orders were issued, no operational orders for deployments included such direction, no unit standard operating procedures (SOPs) mentioned it, there were no unofficial “gentlemen’s” agreements, in fact nothing to substantiate the “distress signal” claim.

The closest reference we could find to date with any proven military connection was on the website of BFBS Forces News [2]. An article published ahead of King Charles III’s coronation celebrations in 2022 questioned, in a country awash with Union Jacks, how many people would unknowingly hang them upside down. Within said article author, Julian Perreira, wrote:

“It is often said that when the Union Flag is flown upside down, it is a form of distress signal – a coded signal – and should only be used as such.”

It is worth highlighting that Mr Perreira did not categorically state that an upside down flag is a distress signal, he merely notes that “it is often said”. In other words, while many people may believe this to be the case, that is not the same as there being any officially recognised, documented proof. Rather the whole “distress signal” notion is predicated on hearsay and uncorroborated word-of-mouth. It is, therefore, just another urban myth, which the Cambridge Dictionary defines as “a story or statement that is not true but is often repeated, and believed by many to be true”.

Returning to our military analogy, where a base is at the very real risk of being overrun, then the defenders undoubtedly will have far more pressing concerns. The most obvious would be directly engaging the enemy and resisting infiltration, but other actions would include destroying cryptographic material and devices, destroying protectively marked (classified) documents, hard drives and recording devices, and generally taking every possible action to deny the enemy any exploitable information and materiel. The belief that someone has time to disengage from the firefight to strike a flag, flip it upside down and fly it once more as a “distress signal”, subtle or not, is just nonsensical.

If still not convinced, then let us consider the weakness of the final sentence in this particular comment which reads:

“It may not have been an official thing to do, but appears to have been done somewhere at some point due to the widespread stories of it.”

Firstly, the writer states using an upside flag as a distress signal was not an officially recognised thing to do. In most mainstream militaries, unofficial actions are frowned upon and not encouraged. Moreover, if not a recognised practice, then that implies leaving a lot of service personnel completely ignorant of said “distress signal”. In other words, if personnel are not briefed or trained to look for this subtle signal then they will not recognise the significance, nor take the appropriate action (whatever that might be), and more dangerously could walk straight into an ambush. Despite this the comment writer contests that flying flags upside down was done somewhere, by someone, at some time, so it must be true. Yet in providing no evidence to support this ambiguous statement, the writer rather neatly commits the very thing they accuse Tastes Of History of doing at the comment’s beginning, that is, not providing evidence for or against the distress signal idea. Except we did.

We stated quite clearly that the authoritative publication on “Flying Flags in the United Kingdom” makes no mention of the practice. Indeed, we can find no official UK governmental or MoD documentation that establishes definitively the practice of flying a Union Flag upside down as a distress signal applicable to the armed forces or anyone else. There are, however, many mentions of the upside down flag as a distress signal in online discussions or articles on the correct way to fly the Union Flag. Are these frequent mentions “the widespread stories of it” happening? If so, then we return to the very definition of an urban myth. Flying the Union Flag upside down as a distress signal may be often repeated and believed by many, but it is simply not true.

If, dear reader, you know otherwise and can provide documentary evidence from an official source, then let us know because every day should be a learning day. Bon appétit!

References:

Cambridge Dictionary, (2025), “Urban Myth”, Cambridge University Press & Assessment website, available online (accessed 8 October 2025).

Perreira, J, (2022), “Union Jack: Do you know the correct way up?”, bfbs Forces News, available online (accessed 8 October 2025).

Endnotes:

1. “No names, no pack drill” has its origins in the British Army where “pack drill” refers to a punishment involving soldiers carrying heavy packs during exercise or drills. The phrase implies that if an individual is not named then there can be no recriminations or punishment for their actions.

2. The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces and their dependents worldwide.