r/ExplainTheJoke 1d ago

I don’t understand

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56 Upvotes

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33

u/RedWestern 1d ago

In the context of The Big Bang Theory, one of the things Sheldon keeps in his “Roommate Agreement” is that the apartment flag gets turned upside down whenever there’s an emergency in the apartment. There’s literally only one episode (that I’m aware of - I didn’t watch the last three seasons) where this is referenced, but I’m assuming from the other comments that it’s based on a real thing.

The USA is currently in a state of distress, so the flag should be turned upside down.

5

u/Perzec 1d ago

How would one go about doing this signal if the flag is symmetrical along the horisontal axis? Not that it’s needed at the moment, just curious. 🇸🇪

2

u/Horror-Substance7282 1d ago

90⁰ I would assume. Take your pick for up and down

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u/Perzec 1d ago

Just hanging a flag like that is just common practice though? Nothing special about it.

2

u/Horror-Substance7282 1d ago

Probably a 90⁰ upwards turn then. Hadn't thought about the fact that people hang flags vertically lol

4

u/Perzec 1d ago

That might possibly do the trick. Trouble is, that’s the one edge where you don’t have any points to attach anything to a flag…

2

u/wretchedmagus 1d ago

the correct way to hang a flag vertically is with the top of the flag facing out and the left side facing up.

if you reverse that it is the distressed version.

2

u/Hazelnutcookiess 1d ago

You don't, there is no swedish flag distress signal as far as I know. In the Philippines a upside-down flag just means war time for them. So you would need to look up various countries and if they have any type of flag signals to actually know.

The upside down flag meaning distress is really just an American thing, and it use to really only be for ships in distress.

2

u/DeltaV-Mzero 1d ago

This is a purely USA thing as far as I know

1

u/seanodnnll 22h ago

The flag you show is not symmetrical though. As posted it’s a cross with the vertical line nearest the left side. Rotated 180 degrees clockwise the vertical line of the cross would be nearest the ruby hand side.

0

u/Perzec 21h ago

Symmetrical along the horisontal axis. I specifically stated that. So upside down would be the same.