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> This really feels like a needlessly invented detail. There are accepted signals for distress, and you'd assume a lighthouse would be equipped for nautical sig
by WastingMyTime89 5y ago
> This really feels like a needlessly invented detail. There are accepted signals for distress, and you'd assume a lighthouse would be equipped for nautical signalling. Flying the union jack upside down is not one of them
Flying a national flag inverted was indeed the more common way of signalling distress for centuries and was by far the most likely way a lighthouse would have done it around 1800.
The Union Jack was only displayed in the top left of maritime flag at the time so it’s somewhat easy to see when the flag is inverted.
- bombcar 5y agoSome flags like the US one are easily identifiable upside down, but many nations have flags that are identical either way.
- jareklupinski 5y agoyea because of this sentence TIL that a Union Jack is not actually symmetrical if you look closely
- soneil 5y agoThat wouldn't be the Union Jack then, but a blue ensign (or whatever variation of the blue ensign Trinity House use). It is an odd quibble as another commenter put it - I guess being well-researched is exactly what makes pieces like this interesting, so I was struck by how easily an errant detail distracted me from that - especially one that could so easily have been omitted.