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Sadly, it needed me to get to the 4th season, till I recognized, that the American flags on the warden's uniform are wrong. They have the stars in the upper right corner, instead upleft.

enter image description here

Is there a reason for this?

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Oliver Friedrich
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1 Answers1

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It's traditional (but not required except in the military) for the US flag to be represented as flowing backwards as the person moves forwards.

Think of the flag, not as a patch, but as a loose flag attached to the Soldier's arm like a flag pole. As the Soldier moves forward, the red and white stripes will flow to the back.

This article explains it better than I can.

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. When viewing the flag on a wall, the highest position of honor is the upper left when displayed horizontally, and at the top (upper left) when displayed vertically. When displayed on a "moving object" like a person or vehicle, the highest position of honor is the front, and not the rear; so the field of blue should be displayed to the front.

In application, then, flags are displayed on moving vehicles with the blue-star field always displayed towards the front of the vehicle. In this way, the flag appears to be blowing in the wind as the vehicle travels forward (flags are always attached to their flag poles on the blue field side). If the flag were not reversed on the right hand side of the vehicle, the vehicle might appear to be moving backwards (or "retreating").

The next time you visit an airport, notice that the US-flagged aircraft also have a "reverse" flag painted on the right side of the aircraft.

For flag patches worn on uniforms, the same principle applies: the blue star field always faces towards the front, with the red and white stripes behind.

Think of the flag, not as a patch, but as a loose flag attached to the Soldier's arm like a flag pole. As the Soldier moves forward, the red and white stripes will flow to the back.

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Paulie_D
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    Makes you think... military uniform designers could have prevented endless confusion by simply placing the flag patch on the left arm instead of the right. :-) – TylerH Oct 08 '18 at 16:04
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    @TylerH the quote says: "The answer is: not all Army Flag Patches are reversed, but only those worn on the right shoulder." This implies that US army flag patches are worn on both shoulders. – M. A. Golding Oct 08 '18 at 17:32
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    @M.A.Golding No, it implies that US army flag patches are worn in locations other than the right shoulder. It does not imply that the other option is solely the left shoulder. It is of course possible (and documented historical fact) that some military uniform designs display the US flag on the left shoulder, but the point of the comment was to indicate a trivially avoidable point of confusion for countless observers. – TylerH Oct 08 '18 at 18:40
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    The reason I heard someone from the military give was "if it weren't like it is it would look like we are retreating". – Captain Man Oct 08 '18 at 19:27
  • It is an Army regulation, so "traditional (but not required)" is not quite correct. Army Regulation 670-1, “Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia,” updated most recently September 5, 2003, addresses explicitly the proper and lawful placement of the U.S. flag patch on the Army uniform. – Steve Oct 09 '18 at 01:03
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    Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia – Steve Oct 09 '18 at 01:04
  • Although, I can't find it in the link I just posted ... so maybe it was removed at some point. Not sure, but there you go... – Steve Oct 09 '18 at 01:06
  • So, it's basically the same reason why logos are often mirrored when printed on airplanes? – Eric Duminil Oct 09 '18 at 08:44
  • @EricDuminil Yes. See also Origin/reason for reversed flag on right shoulder? on SE's History site, and Why is the american flag backwards on one side of the shuttle orbiter but not the other? on Quora. – TripeHound Oct 09 '18 at 09:28
  • @Steve Required for the Army doesn't mean required for everybody else – Lightness Races in Orbit Oct 09 '18 at 09:37
  • Added a minor edit to indicate the military requirement. – Paulie_D Oct 09 '18 at 09:38
  • Example of an aircraft where the flag is by the last row of windows: Right side, Left side. Note how the flag always is in front of the registration number, and how American Airlines also reverses their stylized flag on the tail and the eagle logo and layout next to the company name. – user71659 Oct 09 '18 at 22:50
  • Flags are clearly designed to be seen from both sides. I am sure you have seen both sides of the US flag about the same number of times when it is flying from a pole. So the question is who decided to call the side you see when the pole is on the left "the front". Since the flag conventions used in the West are based to a large extent on Medieval Europe, and many rules are copied from conventions for shields, my guess is that the side convention for these is being copied. Shields were carried on the left (as you had the sword in your right hand) and so images were designed on this basis. – David Robinson Oct 10 '18 at 14:41
  • While it's good you provide your source, you're still essentially reproducing a text you don't own the copyright to (yeah, copyright can be a pain, and I don't particularly like it either). Do you think you could paraphrase the article rather than quote it? – Jasper Oct 12 '18 at 08:41