Why is the US Flag diplayed Upside Down?

The upside down U.S. flag is an official signal of distress. It is not meant to be, and is not officially recognized as any type of disrespect when so displayed for the right reasons. To the contrary, here is the relevant part of the US Code of Laws regarding how to fly the flag when in distress:

THE FLAG CODE
Title 36, U.S.C., Chapter 10
As amended by P.L. 344, 94th Congress
Approved July 7, 1976
§ 176. Respect for flag: No disrespect should be shown to the flag of the United States of America; the flag should not be dipped to any person or thing. Regimental colors, State flags, and organization or institutional flags are to be dipped as a mark of honor.

(a) The flag should never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.

Most individuals who have served in the military service of our nation will (or should) recognize this signal.

As a result of the many traitors and enemies we as a free people have, both foreign and domestic, as a result of the many unconstitutional acts, legislation and atrocities passed and/or committed against US citizens and their life, liberty and property, and as a result of policies that have allowed (and continue to allow) enemies of this nation to enter in large numbers through a porous border policy, I believe the life, liberty and property of US Citizens are in dire danger and distress.

http://www.jeffhead.com/liberty/flagdistress.htm

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Upside down flag sparks July 4 dispute

By Robert Imrie - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jul 10, 2009 14:40:27 EDT

WAUSAU, Wis. — A U.S. flag flown upside down as a protest in a northern Wisconsin village was seized by police before a Fourth of July parade and the businessman who flew it — an Iraq war veteran — claims the officers trespassed and stole his property.

A day after the parade, police returned the flag and the man’s protest — over a liquor license — continued.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village of Crivitz for violating Vito Congine Jr.’s’ First Amendment rights, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said.

“It is not often that you see something this blatant,” Ahmuty said. “The fact that police on Independence Day of all days would come onto private property without permission and shut down his protest is very disturbing.”

In mid-June, Congine, 46, began flying the flag upside down — an accepted way to signal distress — outside the restaurant he wants to open in Crivitz, a village of about 1,000 people some 65 miles north of Green Bay.

He said his distress is likely bankruptcy because the village board refused to grant him a liquor license after he spent nearly $200,000 to buy and remodel a downtown building for an Italian supper club.

Congine’s upside-down-flag represents distress to him; to others in town, like the village president, it represents disrespect of the flag — especially when a community 20 miles away was mourning the death of a 19-year-old soldier killed in Afghanistan.

Just hours before a Fourth of July parade, four police officers went to Congine’s property and removed the flag under the advice of Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey.

Neighbor Steven Klein watched in disbelief.

“I said, ‘What are you doing?’ They said. ‘It is none of your business. Leave or you will be arrested,’ ” Klein said. “It was out-and-out theft.”

Brey declined to comment Friday.

On July 5, police returned the flag.

Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said it was not illegal to fly the flag upside down but people were upset and it was the Fourth of July.

“It is illegal to cause a disruption,” he said. “There were a lot of vets at that parade. You know how veterans react when they see that.”

The parade went on without any problems, he said.

Village President John Deschane said removing the flag was the right thing to do.

Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it’s disrespectful to fly the flag upside down, especially for Congine’s reason.

“Don’t disrespect the flag,” Deschane said. “If he wants to protest, let him protest, but find a different way to do it.”

Congine, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq in 2004, said he intends to keep flying the flag upside down, even though vandals removed a rope this week from the 32-foot pole it was on and another man trespassed onto his property to try to remove it.

“It is extremely scary that the police or the district attorney or a legislative body feels they can take any law and just put it aside for their own interests,” Congine said. “It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else and then I come home to find it right here at my front door.”

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Tea Party Patriots raise flags upside down in Syracuse

by Michelle Breidenbach

Saturday July 04, 2009, 1:11 PM

Syracuse, NY - About 200 people rallied outside the federal building in Syracuse Saturday to protest big government, high taxes, bailouts, the cap-and-trade energy bill, President Barack Obama's plan to expand government health care programs and more.

One speaker described the event as a fact-based protest, "not an emotional rah-rah thing."

People shared facts and opinions at the microphone and with signs. They wore stars and stripes and some carried upside down American flags, a sign of distress, not disrespect, they said.

"Common Sense: Endangered species in Washington," one sign said. Another said, "The press is supposed to be a government watchdog - not a lapdog."

The rally was organized by the Tea Party Patriots, a movement that rallied across the country on tax day in April. The group had hoped to draw 1,000 people to Saturday's event. One speaker encouraged the group to get more young people involved in the movement. They talked about the debt the Obama administration will leave for their great grandchildren to pay.

Organizers encouraged members to express their disappointment with their congressman in person this week. Rep. Dan Maffei, D-DeWitt, is hosting a town hall meeting to talk about health care at 6 p.m. Monday at Lincoln Middle School, 1613 James St. in Syracuse.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/tea_party_patriots_raise_flags.html
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