A photograph purporting to show the American flag being flown upside down outside the State Department has gone viral on social media.
The user who first posted the photograph on Reddit on February 5 told Newsweek, “The picture was taken at approximately 2 p.m., and stayed up for about 20 minutes before it was changed.”
Newsweek contacted the Department of State for comment.
Why It Matters
President Donald Trump vowed during his 2024 campaign to dismantle what he termed the “deep state.” Shortly after his electoral victory in November, he named billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk as head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Since Trump’s inauguration last month, his administration has offered most of the federal government’s 3 million employees deferred resignations and warned that those who remain risk being reassigned or laid off. Employees were also instructed to return to the office, with several telling Newsweek that morale had cratered and that they would refuse to obey any executive orders they believed were illegal.
It is unclear whether the viral photo is genuine or, if it is, whether the upside-down flag was a mistake or an act of protest by a disgruntled employee.
The photograph first shared on Reddit on Wednesday purporting to show the U.S. flag being flown upside down outside the State Department in Washington, D.C.
Reddit/DesperateCranberry38
What To Know
Under the U.S. Flag Code, the Stars and Stripes should “never be displayed with the union down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.”
On Wednesday, Reddit user /u/DesperateCranberry38 shared a photograph they captioned, “Outside the State Department.” The photo, posted in the /r/economicCollapse subreddit, showed an upside-down U.S. flag flying at full-staff. The user later said the photograph had been “taken by an acquaintance of a friend.”
Speaking to Newsweek,/u/DesperateCranberry38, who did not provide their name, insisted the photograph was genuine.
They said: “All I can tell you is that it was not taken by a federal employee. The picture was taken at approximately 2 p.m.”
Using Google Maps and photographs from the area, another Redditor said the photograph was legitimate and had been taken outside the State Department in Washington, D.C. Newsweek has not independently verified the photo.
An analysis by Newsweek confirmed that the flagpole in the picture matched the one outside the State Department in the most recent Google Street View images, which were taken in November 2022.
The images show a flat top above the flag followed by a short, protruding pole on which sits a silver-looking ball.
A Google Street View photograph taken in November 2022 showing the flagpole outside the State Department, which matches the one pictured in a viral Reddit post.
Google Maps
Using TinEye, a reverse image search, Newsweek looked up the image and found no matches, indicating this is likely the first time it has been uploaded to the internet.
User @danzu72, whose bio said they were a military veteran, later posted the photo on X, formerly Twitter, writing in the caption, “Flag flown upside down as sign of distress outside of State Department.”
This post went viral on the platform, receiving more than 9,300 reposts, 87,000 likes and 2.6 million views.
What People Are Saying
X user @JasonTruck45732 commented on the post: “So sad to see but feel their pain!”
User @P3Paul163929 wrote: “The career government lemmings are panicking.”
User @danzu72 replied to @P3Paul163929’s comment: “Imagine having such a miserable existence that you want your fellow Americans out of work. Their distress is not going to make your p***-stained life any better.”
User @CaptainWoosah wrote: “American people do not feel like it’s distress. We finally feel as if we are getting the answers that we’ve been looking for for years.”
User @AmesOsaycnuc said of their flag: “Mine has been upside down since the inauguration, and will stay that way.”
What Happens Next
The Department of State is likely to come under further pressure to comment on the legitimacy of the photo and, if it is genuine, how the flag came to be upside down.
Musk has previously called for cuts to federal government spending of up to $2 trillion, making further tensions with some federal employees all but inevitable.
Update 2/7/25, 6:18 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
Update 2/7/25, 9:42 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
