The White House has no official position on the upside-down flag. The National Park Service, which manages the National Mall and its flag displays, has issued no new guidance. The Pentagon, asked about service members displaying the flag inverted, referred a reporter to the U.S. Flag Code—a set of advisory customs, not law.
That code, Title 4 of the U.S. Code, says the flag should only be flown upside down “as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.” It does not define what counts as dire distress. It does not name the president.
It offers no enforcement mechanism. So as of late June, ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday, the legal framework around the flag remains exactly what it was before the current political fight: a suggestion. Still, local governments are improvising.
In Des Moines, Iowa, where Dina Bannick, 61, told NBC News she plans to fly the flag upside down to protest President Donald Trump, city ordinance officers have not issued a statement. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said it has received no complaints about flag displays.
“It’s a shame,” Bannick said. “We used to be a proud nation. Now, our country is in distress.” In Monson, Massachusetts, the town administrator said the municipality has no policy on private flag displays.
That leaves Dave Cavannah, a professional woodcarver who is busy chiseling a statue of Trump, free to fly his flag any way he chooses. “He is so devoted to Trump,” the original NBC News report noted. Cavannah did not say whether he plans to fly his flag right-side up.
The U.S. Flag Code’s ambiguity is nothing new. It was written in 1923, revised in 1942, and has never been updated to address political protest.
The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that flag desecration—including burning—is protected speech under the First Amendment. Flying the flag upside down, short of defacing it, falls into the same protected category. No federal agency has moved to change that interpretation ahead of the July 4 anniversary.
Bruce Watson, 72, a writer in a small New England town, said he will still fly the flag. But he now worries it needs an asterisk.
“If we do fly the flag, we will also put out signs to make it clear that we are not MAGA,” he said. His local homeowners’ association, he noted, has no rule against signs. That, at least, is settled.
The broader institutional response has been silence. The American Legion, which advocates for flag etiquette, did not issue a press release. The Veterans of Foreign Wars did not comment.
The National Archives, which holds the original Star-Spangled Banner, said the artifact is too fragile for display and declined to discuss its contemporary symbolism. Polls cited in the original report show patriotism, national pride, and optimism for the country’s future are all fraying.
No federal program has been announced to reverse that trend. No congressional hearing on flag symbolism has been scheduled. The 250th birthday will arrive with the same flag—and the same divided meanings—that the country has been arguing over for years.
