U.S. apologises after flying Philippine flag upside-down - a sign the nation is at war



The U.S. Government today apologised for displaying an inverted Philippine flag - wrongfully signifying that the nation was in a state of war - in a meeting hosted by Barack Obama.

The Philippine flag was displayed upside-down behind President Benigno Aquino III when leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met President Obama in New York on Friday.

The Philippine flag was shown with the red part at the top and the blue at the bottom, indicating the country is at war.

The blue field is above the red field when the country is at peace.

Insult: The blue and red Phillipine flag (second flag from right) behind President Benigno Simeon Aquino III as he met President Obama at the UN on Friday is upside-down, a sign the country is at war

At peace: The way the Filipino flag should be flown (file photo)

For many countries, including the UK and the U.S., a flag flown upside down indicates a state of distress.

However in the Philippines an inverted flag signals a state at war.

'This was an honest mistake,' U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said in a statement. adding, 'the U.S. treasures its close relationship and close partnership with the Philippines.'

She added that the American embassy will find out how the 'unfortunate' incident happened.

Philippine foreign affairs department spokesman Ed Malaya said the government understood that it was 'an honest error' that 'should not detract from the true significance of the summit, which showed the unprecedented cooperation between the ASEAN and the U.S.'

It was not immediately clear who pointed out the mistake. A photograph of Aquino sitting beside Obama with the inverted flag behind them was displayed on a government website today but its caption did not point out the error.

Section 10 of the Philippines' Republic Act 8491 states: 'The flag, if flown from a flagpole, shall have its blue field on top in time of peace and the red field on top in time of war; if in a hanging position, the blue field shall be to the right (left of the observer) in time of peace, and the red field to the right (left of the observer) in time of war.'

The law covering the national flag also provides penalties such as a fine and imprisonment of up to one year for people found disrespecting the flag.



During the summit, Obama discussed ways of bolstering economic ties between the U.S. and Southeast Asia as well as Asian regional concerns such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Nov. 7 elections in military-ruled Myanmar.

