Origin/reason for reversed flag on right shoulder?
score:17
This is required by US Army regulations. See Army Regulation 670–1 "Uniform and Insignia - Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia" PDF, p. 35:
21–18. Wear of U.S. flag embroidered insignia
a. All Soldiers will wear the full-color U.S. flag embroidered insignia on utility and organizational uniforms, unless deployed or in a field environment. Soldiers will wear the subdued tactical flag insignia while deployed or in a field environment.
b. How worn. See DA Pam 670–1.
This refers to Department of the Army Pamphlet 670–1 - Uniform and Insignia: Guide to the Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia PDF, p. 207:
21–18. Wear of U.S. flag embroidered insignia
a. Description. The colors of the U.S. flag embroidered insignia (full color) are red, white, and blue. The size is approximately 2 inches by 3 inches.
b. How worn.
(1) ...
(2) The U.S. flag embroidered insignia is worn so that the star field faces forward, or to the flag’s own right. When worn in this manner, the flag is facing to the observer’s right and gives the effect of the flag flying in the breeze as the wearer moves forward. The appropriate replica for the right shoulder sleeve is identified as the reverse side flag (see fig 21–132).
See also http://www.usflag.org/flagpatch.html and http://www.baxterbulletin.com/story/news/local/2015/04/14/flag-patches-uniforms-backwards/25775981/.
Upvote:2
Civilians often wonder why the US Army Flag Patch is reversed. The answer is: not all Army Flag Patches are reversed, but only those worn on the right shoulder. The reason has to do with proper display of the flag. The blue field of stars should always be in the highest position of honor.
http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4013coll9/id/602
Happened in 1981 under John Marsh. Remember that the army was doing the crack epidemic thing and was recovering from Vietnam. Probably people were displaying the flag incorrectly and someone decided to make it official policy.
Upvote:5
From my military experience, the intent is that "forward" motion leads with the blue star field. In other words, the stars lead the way forward. So it depends on which side of the uniform the flag is on. On the left shoulder the blue field is on the left side of the flag, in its normal position. On the right shoulder the blue field is on the right side of the flag, so it appears reversed. In tohuwawohu's answer, this is called out in 21-18, section 2, first sentence.
Note that not all public entities adhere to this. Police departments, fire departments and so on may or may not use this practice. Even in the military I observed that there were some units that used a left-hand blue field on the right shoulder.
More post
- 📝 What is the significance of 4200 BCE in context of farming replacing foraging in Europe?
- 📝 Army formation: veterans at the first line
- 📝 How did the Greeks keep a prytaneum alight in storms?
- 📝 What did Jacob Burckhardt intend to say by 'turn within' and 'turn without'?
- 📝 What is the earliest example of Aryanization in Germany?
- 📝 Did the Soviet Union need both prongs to succeed at the Battle of Stalingrad?
- 📝 Did Boris Pavlovich Belousov die in 1970 or 1976?
- 📝 Did any country threaten war on the US because they didn't pay their debt after the Revolutionary War?
- 📝 Were there nurses stationed at Bude, Cornwall, UK during WW2?
- 📝 Why does clock time start in the middle of the night?
- 📝 When did it become accepted to tilt your soup bowl?
- 📝 Why did human and civil rights gain a foothold at the time they did?
- 📝 German Government branches during World War 2
- 📝 Why were Albanians the only nation in the Balkans who converted to Islam during the Ottoman occupation?
- 📝 DNA results of Amarna dead?
- 📝 Where did the idea of a Pharaoh originate?
- 📝 How many people did the Islamic Caliphate send to the Maghreb during the Arabization of North Africa?
- 📝 Where can I find Japanese oil production figures through WWII?
- 📝 Why did the pre-Islamic Arabs identify themselves as descendents of Ishmael?
- 📝 How many illegitimate children did King Henry VIII have?
- 📝 Early Telegraph Systems
- 📝 Was the US Navy larger in 1917, and if so, why?
- 📝 Did being a "Philhellene" in ancient times mean you were not a Greek?
- 📝 What changed Japanese attitude to POWs in inter-war period?
- 📝 What is the etymology of the word "Mehrgarh", one of the earliest Neolithic site in South Asia?
- 📝 The link between Kaiser Wilhelm I. and the city of Bonn
- 📝 Why was the Soviet Marine Infantry disbanded in 1947?
- 📝 Is there any evidence of improved sanitation in the years following the Black Death?
- 📝 As newly independent countries after WWI, why didn't Baltic states have sovereignty dispute and war each other like other Eastern European countries?
- 📝 What was the point of the Babylonian captivity?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Origin/reason for reversed flag on right shoulder?
- 📝 What is the reason for the selections of gun caliber size in history?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 Is there a reason for a Queen's husband not to be referred to as King?
- 📝 Are tanks the only reason for the abandonment of trench warfare?
- 📝 What is the historical reason for 18 years being the most commonly accepted age of adulthood?
- 📝 Did Hitler make the right decision for Germany when he called off Operation Zitadelle (during the Battle of Kursk)?
- 📝 Demographics: Were diseases the sole reason for the decrease in native Hawaiian population?
- 📝 Are modern handguns a major reason for democratization?
- 📝 What can be considered to be the single most important reason for the decline of muslim Golden Age?
- 📝 Does modern scholarship accept an Ethiopian or Nubian origin for Egyptian hieroglyphs?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Ottoman empire to adopt the crescent moon as its flag/coat of arms?
- 📝 What is the reason for the modern prominence of the Confederate battle flag, as opposed to some other Confederate flag?
- 📝 Were union disputes the only reason for low female employment in WWI German factories?
- 📝 What was the reason for inflation in Britain after the Black Death?
- 📝 What is the reason for Burma/Myanmar's recent reforms?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Ottoman invasion of Otranto?
- 📝 Were natural resources a primary reason for invading Romania during the middle ages-present?
- 📝 What was the reason for the near-mutiny on the Georgios Averof in 1911?
- 📝 Does any evidence exist that suggests Hitler’s primary reason for declaring war on America was an attempt to draw Japan into his war with Russia?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Dutch attack on Venezuela in 1908?
- 📝 What was the reason the Maronites lobbied for a state of Greater Lebanon?
- 📝 What was the reason for US Fed rate increase in spring 1928?
- 📝 What was the reason for Gandhi's visit to Africa
- 📝 What was the reason for the geographical error in Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech 5th March 1946?
- 📝 When dubbing a knight why is the right shoulder dubbed first?
- 📝 What was the official reason for not invading France until the middle of 1944?
- 📝 What was the reason for the ubiquitous pigeon farms in Soviet cities?
- 📝 Did the Balkans campaign delay Operation Barbarossa for the Nazis and was it therefore an important reason why they lost against the Soviets in WWII?
- 📝 Was there a stated reason for the evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza strip?