King Charles III and President Trump meet at the White House
President Donald Trump welcomed King Charles III to the White House as an unusual state guest amid heightened tensions over the Iran war and NATO.
- Britain’s Union Jack was discovered upside down during a visit by the British royal family to Arlington National Cemetery.
- According to the British Flag Association, it is considered inappropriate to fly the Union Jack upside down.
- Before the Australian flag was mistakenly displayed in Washington, DC, another flag mix-up occurred.
When King Charles and Queen Camilla visited Arlington National Cemetery on April 30, their military entourage held the British flag upside down, prompting vitriol in the British press.
Photos show the red and white stripes of the Union Jack were reversed when the royal couple stopped at a cemetery in Virginia.
“King Charles’ state visit to the United States ended in bizarre fashion, with the Union flag flying upside down during a farewell event,” wrote the London tabloid Daily Express. “Rather, it’s a diplomatic gaffe by the Americans here: Union flag turned upside down at Arlington Cemetery event,” the newspaper said, citing an article posted on X by Mark Stone, a U.S. correspondent for the British network Sky News.
A headline in the US edition of the Express newspaper read: “President Trump and King Charles make grave ‘distress signal’ error as they pay their respects.” In the world of flags, flying the Union Jack upside down literally means a situation of distress.
The King and Queen have not yet mentioned this arrangement. Charles and Camilla paid their respects and laid wreaths and flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the cemetery before traveling to rural Virginia to attend another event. Arlington National Park is the final resting place for more than 400,000 active duty military personnel, veterans, and their families, and honors those who have served the United States.
According to the British Flag Association, “On the half of the flag closest to the flagpole, the wide white diagonal stripe must be above the red diagonal stripe, as Scotland’s St. Andrew’s Cross takes precedence over Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Cross.” Looking at the photo, it was just the opposite.
According to the Institute’s 20-page Guide to Flying the Flag in the UK, the British Flag Protocol, it is “most inappropriate to display the flag upside down”.
The institute’s guide also said the flag signifies the unity of the countries that make up the United Kingdom and shows the bonds of citizenship we all share. “Whatever our differences, whatever our faith, culture, political views, ethnicity, first language or traditional customs, we can all stand under this flag, united in common purpose,” the guide said.
The British Embassy in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment.
The upside-down Union Jack wasn’t the only flag mishap during the royal visit.
This was not the first known mistake regarding the Union Jack in connection with Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla’s visit.
Before the King and Queen’s first visit to the United States, ABC News host James Longman noticed on April 24 that an Australian flag, not the Union Jack, was flying next to the American flag on a pole along a major thoroughfare in Washington, D.C.
According to the National Archives of Australia, Australia’s flag features Britain’s Union Jack in the top left corner, but below it also features a large white seven-pointed Commonwealth Star and five small white stars representing its geographic location.
“We held the Australian flag next to the Stars and Stripes for about two hours,” Mr Longman said in a video posted to his Instagram page. “I think they realized their mistake and have now replaced it with the Union Jack.”
D.C. Department of Transportation officials told the Washington Examiner that the Australian flag mix-up was confined to a light pole in the area and was quickly corrected once identified.
Transportation officials said the flag is normally stored in a storage room and the department is investigating whether the flag was placed in the wrong box or had the wrong label, the examiner reported.
