Flying the Union Flag at home: correct hoist corner

The flag is in your hands, the pole is on the wall, and the diagonals look almost the same until you hold the cloth still. Flying the Union Flag at home starts with one corner. In the upper corner nearest the pole, the wider white diagonal sits above the red diagonal. If the red sits above that broader white band, the flag is upside down.

You may fly it any day. You put it in the superior position when another flag shares the display. Heinrich W. checked the College of Arms, the GOV.UK flag guide, the Flag Institute's protocol, and the amazon.co.uk kits in the flagpole comparison, in October 2026. This is not a lab test of those kit flags. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

In short

At the hoist, the broader white diagonal goes above the red. Any individual may fly the Union Flag on any day. On one shared pole it goes on top. Half-mast needs a halyard, and a kit flag still has to be checked before the clip closes.

The corner nearest the pole

The College of Arms states the test without a diagram book. In the upper corner nearest the flagpole, the wider diagonal white stripe should be above the red diagonal stripe. If the red is above the wider white stripe, the flag is upside down. The Flag Institute gives the design reason: St Andrew's saltire takes precedence over St Patrick's saltire, so the broader white diagonal sits above the red at the hoist. Upside down is improper.

1. Hoist edge in your left hand if the pole is to your left.
2. Upper corner nearest the pole, checked before the clip closes.
3. Wider white diagonal above the red.
4. Red on top means take it down, turn it, and hoist again.

Supplied Union Flags in the tall kits are a known upside-down mistake. iElyiEsy, about £69.99 with 4.3 from 34 reviews, includes a 3 by 5 British flag. Thanaddo, about £59.99 with 4.6 from 1,113 reviews, includes a Union flag and an England flag. Open the cloth before the clips close. The review count does not prove the print.

Flag Consultancy's procedure note says raising a flag inverted is internationally recognised as a distress signal. That is their wording for a custom. It is not a criminal offence, and there is no Flag Act that sets a fine for a household flying the Union Flag upside down.

Take it down and refit it. The College of Arms is the official repository for flags, and the flying of flags on land falls under the Earl Marshal.

Union Flag and Union Jack

The College of Arms says Union Flag. Listings and section 4 of the Trade Marks Act say Union Jack. Using Union Jack is not a mistake in law. This article says Union Flag because that is the College's name, and it mentions Union Jack where a listing or that statute uses it.

You may fly it any day

The College of Arms says any individual can fly the Union Flag at any time. GOV.UK's designated days are for UK government buildings, where one pole flies the Union Flag by default except on specified occasions. Private homes are not that list. An 8am-to-sunset note, for people who follow those days, is not a ban on other days in a garden.

Flying only on the government days is a household custom. It is not what the College requires, and it is not what advertisement law requires. Fly it when you mean to, the right way up, and in a state you would still call dignified. The Flag Institute's protocol is custom of that kind. Detail does not turn it into a statute.

A St George's Cross has no hoist-corner trick of the Union kind, though a shaped badge that reads from one face can still face the wrong way. In England it sits with national flags in the no-consent group when the standard conditions hold. Garden rules, including a foreign national flag beside it, are in flying a flag in a UK garden.

It takes the superior position

On one pole, superior means on top. Since the 2021 change, GOV.UK says two flags may share a pole if the rules for that place are met, and the Union Flag is flown in the superior position. A Borussia Dortmund flag, a Germany flag, or any other flag that is allowed there goes below the Union Flag. The Borussia Dortmund flag comparison and the Germany flag comparison are the cloth. You can meet the advertisement rules and still miss the protocol.

The Flag Institute's custom matches that order. A national flag should not fly in an inferior position to another flag. With one bracket and one attachment, fly the Union Flag and leave the club flag for another day, or fit a second clip on a halyard that keeps the Union Flag above.

Several poles are a civic layout most houses do not have. As the observer looks at the building, the College of Arms puts the place of honour to the left of the main entrance, on the higher pole, or in the centre of an odd number. One socket does not need that layout. Height is separate: see flagpole height rules in the UK.

Half-mast, if the pole can do it

Half-mast is a position. The College of Arms says two-thirds of the way up, with at least the flag's own height between the flag and the top of the pole. Raise it to the truck first, then lower it. The Flag Institute and Flag Consultancy both give that sequence.

• About two-thirds of the way up the pole
• At least the flag's own height between the flag and the truck
• Raised to the truck first, then lowered
• A halyard, so the flag can be lowered rather than left short

You need a rope. In the comparison only Thanaddo, the NQ 20 ft kit, and iElyiEsy include a halyard. A wall pole with rings, a ground spike, and an indoor stand do not. The Flag Institute says you cannot half-mast a pole fixed more than 45 degrees from vertical. Use a black mourning ribbon. Do not tilt a short bracket and call it half-mast.

If other flags are flying, the College of Arms says they are all at half-mast or they are not flown. Foreign flags are not flown at half-mast unless that country is also in mourning. A Germany flag at full hoist beside a half-masted Union Flag is the arrangement that note prevents. On a single halyard, fly the Union Flag at half-mast and leave the other flags down.

Torn cloth, night flying, and consent

The Flag Institute says a national flag should not be flown worn, damaged, or soiled. A frayed fly edge, a split seam, or a flag that has been in the mud is retired. Wash and repair are for cloth that is dirty and still whole, following the care line on the flag you own. A kit flag that arrived upside down is refitted. A worn-out flag is replaced.

If you fly at night, light the flag. Sunrise to sunset is the normal custom, not a curfew with a penalty. Check the hoist corner in daylight, because a bulb flattens the red and the white. Wind overrides the clock. A correct flag in a gale still comes down, which is when to take a flag down in wind. Protocol does not state a wind speed.

In England the Union Flag needs no advertisement consent when it stays safe and tidy, with the site owner's permission, and clear of traffic signs. That does not make a 6.1 metre pole lawful. iElyiEsy's full 20 ft is about 6.1 metres, above the English 4.6 metre grounds figure. The English sentence does not transfer unchanged into Scotland. Wales is grouped with England on the designated-days page: express consent is not required to fly the Union Flag from a flagpole. On a listed house or in a conservation area, ask the local planning authority before the sleeve goes in.