By Hunter Atkins
A navy rear-admiral says we're all upside down and sideways when it comes to hanging flags.
"A flag is a very powerful device," said Rear-Admiral Arne Söderlund, who has been in the navy for 42 years and is a vexillologist, or flag historian. "It's the ultimate symbol of a nation. People die for it."
St George's Mall in the city is festooned with rows of flags, with South African flags book-ending each row.
There are 13 hanging incorrectly, and the non-South African flags are not arranged alphabetically, which is another infraction.
"Flags ... are subject to long-established traditional and heraldic rules," Söderlund wrote in a local newspaper.
"These basic rules are internationally accepted standards ... Flying the flag upside down has traditionally been recognised as a signal of distress, but there are other ways you can show disrespect to the flag, normally through ignorance of these basic rules."
Those rules are:
- Never fly or display a flag upside down (unless in real distress, such as a ship at sea trying to attract attention or a group engaged in a hostage situation). With the South African flag, the red is always at the top, and when displayed against a surface, the hoist (black side) should be to the left.
- When flown in South Africa with other national flags, the South African flag is always in the position of honour, which is the furthest to the right along a wall or boundary, but seen to the left by observers. The flags of other nations are then flown in alphabetical order and none should be larger than the South African flag.
- When displayed vertically, the flag is always drooped downwards with the red to the left of the observer (it is swivelled around so that the black is to the right and then dipped 90 degrees).
- It should never touch or be dragged on the ground, or used as a tablecloth or drape.
- It may never be defaced with slogans, writing or designs.
In addition to his flag fanfare, Söderlund runs his own museum in Glencairn, which he started in 1956. Entering the building containing more than 300 antique collections is like stepping back in time.
"Elderly people love coming here because they haven't seen this stuff since they were young," Söderlund said.
He has collected items such as shaving gear, perfumes and outmoded cameras.
A map of South Africa from 1550, with the mountains drawn where rivers should be and the Nile River heading in the wrong direction, lets visitors see through the eyes of Italian colonisers.
Today Söderlund continues his crusade around Cape Town to fix flag faux pas in the run-up to the World Cup.
"I'm going to a hotel right now. Someone called me because they put the flags on the ground," he said, emphasising the egregious act of "grounding" a flag.