Inverted American Flag: A Symbol of Right-Wing Dissent
The upside-down American flag has become a mainstream symbol of right-wing protest.
I've been noticing a lot of frustration about how those who once ended an NFL career over kneeling are now defacing the flag with blue lines or flying it upside down in protest. Let's be clear: "Cancel culture" and similar issues are about who gets the right to free speech.
Simply calling it hypocrisy isn't enough; it's more sinister than that.
What we see as a double standard is actually about hierarchy. This is how the right seeks to order the world: determining who can inflict harm without consequence and who must endure it.
The upside-down American flag goes mainstream as a form of right-wing protest
The symbol, traditionally used by seafarers as a distress call, has been wielded as a bipartisan protest. But its most visible recent uses have taken a hard right political shift.
Emma Bowman
