Flags that don't forgive
Many flags look the same whichever way you hang them. Others don't. Take South Korea: a white field, a red and blue circle in the middle, and four black trigrams around it.
Which colour goes on top, red or blue? Red. Hang it the other way and the flag is simply wrong, even though it was made perfectly.
It happens close to home too
Think this only happens with faraway flags? In September 2015, after the all-Italian women's final at the US Open in New York, Italy's then Prime Minister Matteo Renzi posed for a souvenir photo with Flavia Pennetta, Roberta Vinci and the heads of Italian sport. Behind them hung the Tricolore, reversed: red, white, green. The photo went round social media within minutes.
Source: Quotidiano Nazionale, 13 September 2015.
How to get it right every time
- The hoist goes on the left. The side of the flag with the sleeve, rings or eyelets is the side that goes to the pole, on your left as you look at the flag.
- Look at it as the public will. A flag must read correctly for the people watching it, not for the person hanging it. Take two steps back and check before the ceremony starts.
- When in doubt, compare. Check the flag against an official picture of it before hanging it.
Are there exceptions?
Of course. The flag of Saudi Arabia carries a written creed, so it is made double-sided: the text must read correctly on both faces, and the sword always points the same way.
And on aircraft, the flag painted on the right-hand side is often reversed on purpose. The nose of the plane is treated as the flagpole, so the flag looks as if it is flying in the wind as the plane moves forward. Not a mistake: a convention.
Need the right one? Here are our Bandiera della Corea del Sud e Bandiera dell'Italia.
