ListNook

joelluber Apr 28, 2026 +790

To be fair, he is the King of Australia.

790

HankSteakfist Apr 28, 2026 +215

And the flag of the UK is technically on the Australian flag.

215

random20190826 Apr 28, 2026 +51

The Union Jack is in a lot of different places in the Commonwealth. While the Canadian flag is one with a red maple leaf, the provincial flag of Ontario has a Union Jack in it.

51

HankSteakfist Apr 28, 2026 +51

A cool detail in the film Event Horizon is that Sam Neill's character's country patch on his uniform has the Australian Flag but the Union Jack has been replaced by the Aboriginal flag. When the film was made there was considerable debate in Australia that it would form a republic and ditch the constitutional monarchy. The referendum failed in 1999 though.

51

LKennedy45 Apr 28, 2026 +10

Well clearly after he got back from the Warp, they put him in charge of picking out the flags to decorate DC with. Or some other idiot with no eyes.

10

LittleGreenSoldier Apr 28, 2026 +6

Where we're going, we won't need eyes to see.

6

sephjnr Apr 28, 2026 +1

That reboot of Back to the Future was *dark*

1

ArchibaldMcAcherson Apr 28, 2026 +6

That debate will happen again. Most of those who are pro-monarchy have died off and the cultural mix of Australia has changed enough that most people don't have any great attachment to the UK. The biggest impediment will be apathy - why change it if it works?

6

NorthernerWuwu Apr 28, 2026 +6

In Canada we are pretty apathetic about it as well. We've got a stronger disincentive maybe, it would be a giant pain in the ass to rewrite all our political and legal stuff. Like, really expensively a pain in the ass. So we just sort of leave it be and we do a lot of that. Hell, we pay an entire Senate body that has really zero power or accountability.

6

teddy5 Apr 28, 2026 +4

That's the main argument against it in Australia too. Our current system works well and has redundancies like our governor general and double dissolution triggers, which stop us from travelling too far down the road of a completely dysfunctional government. The republican movement which champions separating from the UK would then also be responsible for rewriting our constitution and the new rules. A lot of people don't trust that they wouldn't try to rewrite it in their favour and screw the people over.

4

cyanescens_burn Apr 28, 2026 +4

That’s how Big Monarchy TM gets you, every time.

4

Atralis Apr 28, 2026 +22

The state flag of Hawaii has a union jack. And no it was never a British colony or commonwealth.

22

FrankBattaglia Apr 28, 2026 +4

>The state flag of Hawaii has a union jack One of my favorite bits of trivia. Kamehameha was given a flag with the Union Jack as a diplomatic gift, but didn't really understand how flags worked so he started flying the gift as the flag of Hawaii. >it was never a British colony or commonwealth. There is a footnote here: The British occupied Hawaii for 5 months in 1843, but that was done by a rogue naval officer. It was also roughly 50 years *after* Hawaii had been using a Union Jack in their flag.

4

Quinocco Apr 28, 2026 +7

Also BC and Manitoba. And Newfoundland sorta.

7

Orangesteel Apr 28, 2026 +1

It’s in the Hawaiian state flag too The history of why is interesting

1

yetzt Apr 28, 2026 +5

And on the Hawaii flag.

5

Dockers4flag2035orB4 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Actually Aussies like to claim the UK took the top corner of our flag as their own. (Joke from Paul Hogan of Crocodile Dundee fame)

1

Zxcc24 Apr 28, 2026 +1

They were originally a penal colony.

1

watercouch Apr 28, 2026 +20

The Monarch of the UK also has his (or her) own flag that follows him (or her) around: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_standard_of_the_United_Kingdom

20

drivelhead Apr 28, 2026 +1

>his (or her) their >him (or her) them

1

Rare_Trouble_4630 Apr 28, 2026 +1

I think either is technically acceptable to use, so it's not really worth correcting people over it. Come to think of it, it's not even correcting. IMO "they" is still better in the majority of cases, and "he or she" and all its derivatives are too clunky for regular use.

1

Tibbaryllis2 Apr 28, 2026 +29

This is what I was coming to say. The Commonwealth realms still use the King as a figurehead: In addition to the United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. Whoever raised the wrong flag should just lean into and change it to one of these nations periodically before and during his visit.

29

Lord-Glorfindel Apr 28, 2026 +23

That, and at King George VI visited the United States in his capacity as King of Canada while in the middle of a tour of Canada. Of course, the United States mixed that up too, referred to him as "His Britannic Majesty", and ignored the fact that William Lyon Mackenzie King was his official e***** and that he had visited the United States as Canada's head of state rather than the UK's. There's precedent for the King to be visiting the United States as a representative of other Commonwealth realms.

23

TheProcrastafarian Apr 28, 2026 +2

And the king wears the military uniform of the commonwealth country he’s visiting, too, I believe.

2

facw00 Apr 28, 2026 +8

Strictly speaking, while Charles is the head of the Commonwealth, he is only King of 15 of the 56 Commonwealth nations.

8

enduro Apr 28, 2026 +3

... those are rookie numbers.

3

Brikpilot Apr 28, 2026 +2

Additionally King Charles is also separately king of the states within the Commonwealth of Australia, giving him further identities. So for example Australia could one day become a Republic yet the State of New South Wales (which is older than the Commonwealth of Australia) could retain the King as figurative head of state.

2

eddieeddieeddiemlbrn Apr 28, 2026 +1

So, when Ronald Reagan invaded Grenada the USA was at war with Queen Elizabeth but, somehow, not at war with the UK? Weird.

1

Hikingcanuck92 Apr 28, 2026 +2

They should put up Canadian flags. Reverse UNO on all that 51st state nonsense.

2

Western-Corner-431 Apr 28, 2026 +3

They don’t know the difference, that’s just the truth. Whoever did this doesn’t know. Whoever supervised it doesn’t know. That no one cares about how everyone in this regime is ignorant “at levels no one has ever seen before” in government employees is a failure of the citizenry

3

Few_Raisin_8981 Apr 28, 2026 +1

King of New York

1

HankSteakfist Apr 28, 2026

What's in the cup?

0

Middle-Weight-837 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Barely, thanks very much.

1

PigFarmer1 Apr 28, 2026 -1

To be fair, this has nothing to do with Australia.

-1

joelluber Apr 28, 2026 +4

Do you have a citation for that? I was trying to figure out if he was officially visiting as just the head of state of the United Kingdom or for all fourteen countries if which he's had of state.

4

pqratusa Apr 28, 2026 +3

He is visiting to do UK government business. His flag will be of his personal UK standard.

3

thedugong Apr 28, 2026

I didn't vote for him!

0

Frank9567 Apr 28, 2026 +3

You don't vote for Kings! *runs away clicking coconuts

3

thedugong Apr 28, 2026 +1

Well, 'ow did 'e become king then?

1

coulls Apr 27, 2026 +417

This is more than just a “oops” it shows that whoever is in charge of diplomatic vexillology matters is not qualified for the job. Or if they are qualified, they did not do it at a standard you’d expect.

417

Stray_Neutrino Apr 28, 2026 +63

Did they ask ChatGPT?

63

KAugsburger Apr 28, 2026 +96

ChatGPT would be a significant improvement over some of the morons that Trump has hired.

96

Violoner Apr 28, 2026 +29

Artificial Intelligence > No Intelligence

29

Creative_Ad_8338 Apr 28, 2026 +4

*Vote Claude for President*

4

Mustang-22 Apr 28, 2026 +2

Shut up right now

2

Creative_Ad_8338 Apr 28, 2026 +7

First executive order by President Claude: "The build more data centers because it's great for humans act"

7

Fuck_auto_tabs Apr 28, 2026 +25

Don’t worry, by next week it’ll be that Trump is pranking them. It’s never a f*** up it’s always a 4D chess live at the expense of our allies

25

CellistMundane9372 Apr 28, 2026 +2

The flags were put up by the city.

2

Hoplophilia Apr 28, 2026 +22

>they did not do it at a *standard* you’d expect. Indeed not.

22

hashtag_aesthetic Apr 28, 2026 +9

Somebody should have flagged it before that memo went out. They’ll be paying major pennants now.

9

Kevbot1000 Apr 28, 2026 +11

Literally not one single person in this administration is qualified for their job.

11

cwatson214 Apr 28, 2026 +25

Just like everybody else in this administration...

25

lorgskyegon Apr 28, 2026 +3

Someone hasn't been watching their *Fun with Flags*

3

mwhite1249 Apr 28, 2026 +8

You mean like Trump and his entire mis-administration? Idiots to the core and an embarrassment to the country.

8

Joe_Jobs_ Apr 28, 2026 +5

welll shit. I curse my empathy. Not American, and I feel embarrassed for you. Y'all deserve much better. So does the rest of the world.

5

Reasonable-Turn-5940 Apr 28, 2026 +3

I'm sure they're loyal to Trump, which is all the qualifications anyone needs in this administration

3

CellistMundane9372 Apr 28, 2026 +2

Apparently, the D.C. Department of Transportation's vexillology division is lacking. The article you posted indicates the error was made by the city government, which controls the streets, not the White House or the State Department. And it sounds like the city's (local) department of transportation was actually responsible.

2

FoxyInTheSnow Apr 28, 2026 +2

They *are* qualified for the job: they like trump.

2

Shadesmctuba Apr 28, 2026 +1

A high-level government employee is unqualified???? Now you’re gonna tell me corporation executives are incompetent.

1

kstargate-425 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Name me one person in this regime that is truly qualified for their job lol Its literally part of Project 2025 unfortunately and they have created a Kakistocracy like Russia or North Korea 🤦‍♂️

1

NorthernerWuwu Apr 28, 2026 +1

It must have been on purpose. The King has a large and competent protocol department and they would absolutely have sent over detailed instructions.

1

Gone2georgia Apr 28, 2026 +112

Seriously? How does this happen?

112

weaz-am-i Apr 28, 2026 +97

Incompetence. Unqualified? Or done on purpose to see who will notice? A simple sanity check via google would have prevented this.

97

mok000 Apr 28, 2026 +13

Or perhaps it’s deliberate. To take woke King Charles down a notch. Trump socialized with his younger brother you know, great guy, sad what happened to him, pushed out of the family like that.

13

weaz-am-i Apr 28, 2026 +13

Putting up the wrong flag doesn't take the King down a peg. It takes the President down a peg, especially when such a simple detail is messed up so badly

13

AskoTheSussyBaka Apr 28, 2026 +6

The only thing getting a flag as famous as the Union Jack wrong does is knock your entire country down a peg on the global stage

6

PigFarmer1 Apr 28, 2026 +18

Look who's running the show...

18

Literally_Laura Apr 28, 2026 +7

If only the worst thing they had the power to f*** up was some welcoming decorations.

7

wihannez Apr 28, 2026 +3

MAGA hires probably.

3

Frequent-Ferret-5110 Apr 28, 2026 +3

You have one of the two major parties work to destroy education for years as the only way of continuing to have a voter base

3

Teragaz Apr 28, 2026 +2

Saturday was Anzac Day so it was probably just on purpose

2

FormalMango Apr 28, 2026 +1

They must have hired [this dude](https://youtu.be/o8HQ1H5frGU)

1

ganymede_boy Apr 28, 2026 +284

How will they blame this on Obama?

284

atomicskiracer Apr 28, 2026 +51

His khaki suit blinded them

51

VantasnerDanger Apr 28, 2026 +20

Trump inherited this Biden-era flag problem.

20

SomewhereNo8378 Apr 28, 2026 +48

he switched the boxes around before he left and they haven’t opened them since

48

yourlittlebirdie Apr 28, 2026 +13

Why would Kamala Harris do this??

13

Objective_Hawk_284 Apr 28, 2026 +3

Obama asked us last week to change the flag for this prank. Source: Am Australian

3

jeffersonPNW Apr 28, 2026 +2

Not quite as much of a dumbfounding goof up, but for his first visit to the UK, Obama’s gift to then Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a collection of recently released American films on DVD (yes), of which someone forgot to make sure they got DVDs that weren’t region specific to North American DVD players.

2

wuhkay Apr 28, 2026 +1

“‘I blame George Bush and no child left behind,’ one commenter joked” I died

1

Zanos-Ixshlae Apr 28, 2026 +34

Don't worry. They'll raise it again when a high-ranking official from Austria visits.

34

ned_luddite Apr 28, 2026 +2

I get this joke, and approve… mightily.

2

Warlord68 Apr 28, 2026 +57

I could see mixing up New Zealand and Australia, but the Union Flag?!?

57

deadheffer Apr 28, 2026 +15

I am mixed. Funny because, the King is so insignificant in reality. Funny, because ineptitude. Confused, because I’m Irish and I prefer the King of England for his stance on child sex trafficking and pedophilia. I hope for the world Charles redeems the monarchy some more beyond excommunicating his brother.

15

pisquin7iIatin9-6ooI Apr 28, 2026 +4

what redeeming has he done? the Royal Family did the literal bare minimum by stripping official status/duties from a confirmed pedophile

4

Kukukichu Apr 28, 2026 +5

What else can they do? It’s up to the justice system now.

5

laplongejr Apr 28, 2026 +1

I think it's at jab at some *other* confirmed pedophile ^(okay, okay, maybe "ephebophile", don't care) who wasn't stripped from "official status"

1

NewsCards Apr 28, 2026 +87

> “I blame George bush and no child left behind,” wrote on X user, while another chimed in: “They couldn't bother to take 15 seconds and google ‘UK flag?’” We're still paying the price for electing W. Imagine how long we'll be mocked for electing Trump the pedophile. History will not be kind to us.

87

herrcollin Apr 28, 2026 +22

We deserve it.

22

Dudersaurus Apr 28, 2026 +17

The present is not being kind to you.

17

Room_Recent Apr 28, 2026 +13

Goddamn! We have become an embarassing nation. Things have not been the best with international relationships to say the least. We have a chance to host the King and we can't be botherered to fly correct flag. Thats the kinda shit you have have to triple check with multiple eyes on it!

13

Vinny331 Apr 28, 2026 +3

Triple check? Multiple eyes? It's the f****** UK flag. Any adult who went to school anywhere in the world should be enough to do the trick. Seriously, what other country have you ever heard of doing some shit like this?

3

silkee5521 Apr 28, 2026 +12

What else would you expect from our current administration?

12

CellistMundane9372 Apr 28, 2026 +1

The city's local transportation office apparently put up the flags by accident. They mixed 15 Australian flags with hundreds of Union Jacks.

1

Ltsmash99 Apr 28, 2026 +8

The party of stupids did something stupid. More at 11.

8

CellistMundane9372 Apr 28, 2026 +1

The D.C. Department of Transportation, which apparently put them up, is controlled by a city council with 11 Democrats, two independents, and no Republicans.

1

Frequent-Ferret-5110 Apr 28, 2026 +1

The Republicans' demolition of our education system crosses party lines

1

Fabulous_Soup_521 Apr 28, 2026 +22

America the clown show.

22

ukexpat Apr 28, 2026 +5

From the article: *Charles is also ⁠the head of state for Australia, but the role is largely ceremonial.* It’s pretty much ceremonial in the UK too.

5

Cunninghams_right Apr 28, 2026 +10

how does this happen? it happens when your presidency is an absolute disaster and you need to distract people from your absolutely terrible economic, domestic, and foreign policy. Trump wins by flooding the headlines with irrelevant things because people cannot actually be mad about many things at once.

10

Fit-Let8175 Apr 28, 2026 +3

Was this in celebration of the American Education system?

3

aradraugfea Apr 28, 2026 +6

They don't even look the same at first glance, WTF?!

6

Digifiend84 Apr 28, 2026

Yeah, I could understand mixing up Ireland and Italy. They're both tricolours, but Italy had red where Ireland has orange. But UK and Australia?

0

drawmer Apr 28, 2026 +7

Jesus, this administration can’t get any right. Just hard fail after hard fail.

7

Actual_Friendship802 Apr 28, 2026 +4

Have a hard time deciding with these folks whether it’s malevolence or incompetence.

4

BluestreakBTHR Apr 28, 2026 +7

Porque no los dos?

7

Actual_Friendship802 Apr 28, 2026 +2

It could easily be both. You put up the wrong flags. You know what, just leave em, it’s funny, type of thing.

2

Zarkanthrex Apr 28, 2026 +3

Guess whoever was on the welcome team didn't pass geography.

3

CapitanianExtinction Apr 28, 2026 +3

That's what happens when education is underfunded

3

tacotickles Apr 28, 2026 +3

When people say this is an historically unqualified administration, it isn't hyperbole. The conservative version of DEI is hiring clueless idiots that that will listen to anything you tell them to do.

3

DavyB Apr 28, 2026 +3

Every competent person in the current administration has either been fired or quit.

3

TheHeathenStagehand Apr 28, 2026 +3

Y'all expect too much from the people who brought you the 4 Seasons Total Landscaping presser.

3

CellistMundane9372 Apr 28, 2026 +3

I enjoy how nobody, apparently including OP, read the article closely enough to see the error was by the city's department of transportation, which is locally controlled and not part of the federal government.

3

personofshadow Apr 28, 2026 +2

We aren't sending our best

2

Ooglebird Apr 28, 2026 +2

Bruce: "Australia, Australia, Australia, Australia, we love you. Amen."

2

SuperRonnie2 Apr 28, 2026 +2

The American education system…

2

Nessie Apr 28, 2026 +2

When your dinkum is anything but fair.

2

Wally-Walker Apr 28, 2026 +2

And replaced them with the correct flag, upside down https://www.gbnews.com/media-library/australian-flags.png?id=66292277&width=1200&quality=85

2

Swordf1sh_ Apr 28, 2026 +2

Their minds are on founding penal colonies

2

Seagoon_Memoirs Apr 28, 2026 +1

America was founded as a penal colony.

1

tomdon88 Apr 28, 2026 +4

I mean he is the king of Australia.

4

HankSteakfist Apr 28, 2026 +1

I thought Lex Luthor was the King of Australia

1

FlaAirborne Apr 28, 2026 +1

He is a f****** IDIOT!

1

ChopEee Apr 28, 2026 +1

These are the folks being accused of staging a shooting

1

jazzhandler Apr 28, 2026 +1

Definitely more Veep than West Wing.

1

Downtown2 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Disparaging the boot is a bootable offense!

1

[deleted] Apr 28, 2026 +1

[deleted]

1

TinyConfection7049 Apr 28, 2026 +1

LOL. What else can you expect from this so called ‘administration’!!

1

brendenruth Apr 28, 2026 +1

Someone definitely googled “flag with Union Jack” and guessed

1

killerwithasharpie Apr 28, 2026 +1

The Administration That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

1

yetzt Apr 28, 2026 +1

Why not? He is the King of Australia after all, and Australia is bigger than the UKoGBaNI.

1

Reasonable-Turn-5940 Apr 28, 2026 +1

They've really perfected the stock market manipulation and using the government to enrich themselves But damn do they half ass all the actual government stuff. They've still got the same clowns that had them doing a press conference at a landscaping business.

1

Teragaz Apr 28, 2026 +1

The 25th was Anzac Day for Australia btw. That could be a very obvious explanation

1

avatoin Apr 28, 2026 +1

This is probably supposed to be one of those tasks that seems simple (just Google the flag), but is typically covered in piles of process and paperwork to be 110% sure you're displaying the correct flag to at best avoid an embarrassment and at worst, cause a serious diplomatic incident. But of all the ways to screw this up, how do you get the flag for the UK wrong?! At least accidently use the England flag because you googled King of England! At least it was within the Commonwealth and not the Greece flag.

1

Marco_Playdoh Apr 28, 2026 +1

The orange faced idiot strikes again.

1

Blueopus2 Apr 28, 2026 +1

I guess the simplest thing is to cancel the visit and bring the king of Australia instead!!!

1

DogPlane3425 Apr 28, 2026 +1

At least it was in the same commonwealth and a island. Two out of four ain't bad, island, commonwealth, northern hemisphere(oops), home of the king(oops).

1

Jumpstart_411 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Wow that’s embarrassing. What kinds of backcountry administration is this?

1

Scaryclouds Apr 28, 2026 +1

I could understand confusing the Australian and New Zelanda flags… how in the hell do you confuse the UK/Australian flags?!

1

Nitsude Apr 28, 2026 +1

It makes me happy to think someone did this to embarrass Trump in front of one of the few people he seems to want to impress.

1

Sweaty_Marzipan4274 Apr 28, 2026 +1

Me as Pres: Sorry, we don't do kings here. We'd love to welcome your elected officials tho 😊

1

BlueEyes294 Apr 28, 2026 +1

The Epstein Administration won’t allow any government staff to use OP manuals or a computer search?

1

ThreeMarlets Apr 28, 2026 +1

I mean is this actually that big of an oops? Isn't he also King of Australia.

1

Frank9567 Apr 28, 2026 +1

It's not a big oops, but it's a bit amateurish for a supposed first world country. It's a bit like those videos where a head of State visits a third world country and the band at the reception ceremony struggles with the national anthem. The visiting head of State diplomatically ignores the incompetence, after all they are making an effort. But it's clear to everyone that the country being visited isn't up to the job. https://youtu.be/-OxK4lPRoww?si=6PsPVUllqL0_J09l

1

[deleted] Apr 28, 2026

[deleted]

0

MegaLemonCola Apr 28, 2026 +10

You know, there have been reports that it was the King reminding Trump that he is also King of Canada that made Trump tone down his 51st state rhetoric.

10

ricketyladder Apr 28, 2026 +4

Everything I've heard so far suggests that the King has been a firm help to Canada with Trump, not the other way around.

4

Zero-Coolz Apr 28, 2026 +1

What a dopey goanna this bloke was. A sheila would have flammin' gotten it right, but some drongo went, "nah, she'll be right mate, it's got that fuckin' union jack on it, can't be many like it".

1

rebar_mo Apr 28, 2026 +1

At least it wasn't Austrian flags.

1

Frank9567 Apr 28, 2026 +1

But the band did play: "Heil dir im Siegerkranz" quite well. So, Germany would appreciate it.

1

Kid_McCabe Apr 28, 2026 +1

I wish to god that no one had pointed this out.

1

RedDirtNurse Apr 28, 2026 +3

Absolutely. It would've been awesome to hear King Charles take the podium and say, "G'day, cunts!"

3

Automatic_Rabbit82 Apr 28, 2026 +1

"Do you come from the Land Down Under?"

1

pqratusa Apr 28, 2026 +1

Although, technically ok, he is arriving to do UK government business—not Australian.

1

popsferragamo Apr 28, 2026 +1

Welcome to 🤡 town. Prepare to be embarrassed

1

hyund41n Apr 28, 2026 +1

The United States is the most embarrassing nation on earth.

1

Down Under blunder: DC mistakenly raises Australian flags ahead of King Charles trip

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