Flying the flag

[s.and.s]

Wandering around the countries in World Showcase, many of the shops have casual clothing emblazoned with the country's name.

Strolled into a shop in the UK Pavillion recently and noticed some sports shirts sporting a Union Jack Flag. Unfortunately it was UPSIDE DOWN. Checked others on the rack in case it was a one off but no, they were all wrong. The shop assitant promised to raise the matter with the manager. After this we took the trouble to look at some of the Epcot CM's who were wearing a shirt covered in flags - while some flags were shown vertically, as part of the pattern, hey presto the horizontal Union Jack was upside down too.

Never mind - but would they get away with the US flag having the stars in the bottom right corner? May be not.

 

[disneygoof]

Maybe showing my ignorance, but how can you tell?

 

[ReggieB]

It's to do with the placement of each set of stripes. The idea behind the flag is that it is an amalgamation of several flags, you can see the George Cross in there as well as the Scottish flag, well that's what I was always taught at school anyway, probably completely wrong! Basically it's not as symmetrical as it looks.

 

[s.and.s]

Assuming the flag pole is on the left then looking at the top left diagonal there is a wider strip of white above the red line than below.

 

[Soprano]

A tragedy. I hope this didn't completely ruin your holiday.

 

[TSR6]

http://home.egge.net/~savory/unionj.htm

 

[AJKMOM]

The people who work in the countries at EPCOT are supposed to be citizens of that country. If the flags are flying incorrectly, it isn't the fault of American citizens. I looked at the link, and I couldn't tell what they were talking about, the Union Jack looked symmetrical to me.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

The people who work in the countries at EPCOT are supposed to be citizens of that country. If the flags are flying incorrectly, it isn't the fault of American citizens. I looked at the link, and I couldn't tell what they were talking about, the Union Jack looked symmetrical to me.

The OP is complaining about the flag as displayed on clothing selected by WDW to be sold in the UK stores. The red cross of St. Patrick (added to the Union Jack in 1801) is offset on the cross of St. Andrew.

This is quite clearly shown on the Union Jack flag in the link provided. It is very obviously offset.

While working at Fort George National Historic Park in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario we would fly a massive Union Jack. It was not always raised properly, and one was not always able to tell which end was up on so massive a flag, and the teenaged volunteers who often raised the flag were often no better than the United States Marine Corps who couldn't tell which side of the Canadian flag was up in the 1992 or 1993 World Series. On occasion our colleagues at Ft. Niagara State Park in Youngstown, New York would call over and ask us if we were in trouble as the flag was flying upside down - an international sign of distress.

 

[Mom of Sleepy Bashful and BabyDoc]

The OP is complaining about the flag as displayed on clothing selected by WDW to be sold in the UK stores. The red cross of St. Patrick (added to the Union Jack in 1801) is offset on the cross of St. Andrew.

This is quite clearly shown on the Union Jack flag in the link provided. It is very obviously offset.

While working at Fort George National Historic Park in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario we would fly a massive Union Jack. It was not always raised properly, and one was not always able to tell which end was up on so massive a flag, and the teenaged volunteers who often raised the flag were often no better than the United States Marine Corps who couldn't tell which side of the Canadian flag was up in the 1992 or 1993 World Series. On occasion our colleagues at Ft. Niagara State Park in Youngstown, New York would call over and ask us if we were in trouble as the flag was flying upside down - an international sign of distress.

That is VERY interesting. Huh.......at least someone in the US know how to fly the Union Jack.

And to answer someone's question, I would definately NOT like it if my flag were hung upside down. Ofcourse, it's a lot easier for someone to know the right way to hang the US flag because of how it is designed. But still, the OP makes a good point. They should definately correct it.

I CAN see, though, how someone could make that mistake.........I wouldn't have ever known the difference without this thread telling me.

 

[disneygoof]

Thanks for the clarification! See, you do learn something new on the Dis everyday!

Have a magical one!

 

[carolfoy]

Just to be pedantic, its the Union Flag it should only be refferred to as a 'jack' if its flying on a jack pole on a ship!

 

[CdnMom2]

Wow! The things I have learned on the DisBoards!

I did not know this at all. We are proud Canadians of British descent. Will be sharing with all this evening. Thanks for the great link. I'm sure we have some kids' projects around here that have it wrong too.

Same with your great story RoyalCanadian. Soon as I read the OP I thought of the upside-down Cdn flag incident too. But once I read your Fort George story I was really laughing. We visited it this August with the kids. Love to pass on a story to the kids that shows we can't just cast stones at "the ignorant Americans" whose country we love to visit! That is a joke, not meant to cause debate.

Thank you both for sharing & enlightening. And yes, I also do not like to see my country's flag upside-down and I would bring it to someone's attention!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Hi, s.and.s!

We unfortunately never made it back to the UK section of Epcot, but I am still wondering where the clothing in question was manufactured? China, maybe?

 

[Horizons16]

And yes, I also do not like to see my country's flag upside-down and I would bring it to someone's attention!

One of the most offensive things that I can think of is flying the flag wrong.
That and not wearing a uniform correctly.