What Does an Upside Down Flag Mean and Why Is It Not a Distress Signal at Sea?
The use of flags to signal distress is a very old naval tradition, but flying the national flag upside down isn’t one of them. From a distance it’s hard to read whether a flag is or isn’t upside down. The rule was that when you needed help, you drew attention to your ship by doing something unusual such as arranging the sails in
