ListNook

joelluber 17 hr ago +790

To be fair, he is the King of Australia.

790

HankSteakfist 17 hr ago +215

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

215

random20190826 17 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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Horizon is that Sam Neill's character's country patch on his uniform has the Australian Flag but the Union Jack has been replaced by the Aboriginal flag.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 16 hr ago +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 13 hr ago +6

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

6

sephjnr 10 hr ago +1

That reboot of Back to the Future was *dark*

1

ArchibaldMcAcherson 15 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +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 13 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +4

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

4

Atralis 17 hr ago +22

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

22

FrankBattaglia 13 hr ago +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 16 hr ago +7

Also BC and Manitoba. And Newfoundland sorta.

7

Orangesteel 10 hr ago +1

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

1

yetzt 15 hr ago +5

And on the Hawaii flag.

5

Dockers4flag2035orB4 16 hr ago +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 12 hr ago +1

They were originally a penal colony.

1

watercouch 17 hr ago +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 10 hr ago +1

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

1

Rare_Trouble_4630 8 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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 12 hr ago +2

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

2

facw00 15 hr ago +8

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

8

enduro 14 hr ago +3

... those are rookie numbers.

3

Brikpilot 15 hr ago +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 10 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +2

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

2

Western-Corner-431 15 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +1

King of New York

1

HankSteakfist 15 hr ago

What's in the cup?

0

Middle-Weight-837 12 hr ago +1

Barely, thanks very much.

1

PigFarmer1 17 hr ago -1

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

-1

joelluber 16 hr ago +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 16 hr ago +3

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

3

thedugong 14 hr ago

I didn't vote for him!

0

Frank9567 12 hr ago +3

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

3

thedugong 11 hr ago +1

Well, 'ow did 'e become king then?

1

coulls 20 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +63

Did they ask ChatGPT?

63

KAugsburger 17 hr ago +96

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

96

Violoner 17 hr ago +29

Artificial Intelligence > No Intelligence

29

Creative_Ad_8338 16 hr ago +4

*Vote Claude for President*

4

Mustang-22 16 hr ago +2

Shut up right now

2

Creative_Ad_8338 16 hr ago +7

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

7

Fuck_auto_tabs 17 hr ago +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 13 hr ago +2

The flags were put up by the city.

2

Hoplophilia 17 hr ago +22

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

22

hashtag_aesthetic 16 hr ago +9

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

9

Kevbot1000 16 hr ago +11

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

11

cwatson214 17 hr ago +25

Just like everybody else in this administration...

25

lorgskyegon 16 hr ago +3

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

3

mwhite1249 17 hr ago +8

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

8

Joe_Jobs_ 16 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +3

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

3

CellistMundane9372 13 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +2

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

2

Shadesmctuba 15 hr ago +1

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

1

kstargate-425 14 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +112

Seriously? How does this happen?

112

weaz-am-i 17 hr ago +97

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

97

mok000 13 hr ago +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 10 hr ago +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 10 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +18

Look who's running the show...

18

Literally_Laura 17 hr ago +7

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

7

wihannez 13 hr ago +3

MAGA hires probably.

3

Frequent-Ferret-5110 11 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +2

Saturday was Anzac Day so it was probably just on purpose

2

FormalMango 17 hr ago +1

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

1

ganymede_boy 17 hr ago +284

How will they blame this on Obama?

284

atomicskiracer 17 hr ago +51

His khaki suit blinded them

51

VantasnerDanger 17 hr ago +20

Trump inherited this Biden-era flag problem.

20

SomewhereNo8378 17 hr ago +48

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

48

yourlittlebirdie 17 hr ago +13

Why would Kamala Harris do this??

13

Objective_Hawk_284 16 hr ago +3

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

3

jeffersonPNW 14 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +1

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

1

Zanos-Ixshlae 17 hr ago +34

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

34

ned_luddite 13 hr ago +2

I get this joke, and approve… mightily.

2

Warlord68 17 hr ago +57

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

57

deadheffer 17 hr ago +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 13 hr ago +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 12 hr ago +5

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

5

laplongejr 11 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +22

We deserve it.

22

Dudersaurus 17 hr ago +17

The present is not being kind to you.

17

Room_Recent 17 hr ago +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 12 hr ago +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 16 hr ago +12

What else would you expect from our current administration?

12

CellistMundane9372 13 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +8

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

8

CellistMundane9372 13 hr ago +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 11 hr ago +1

The Republicans' demolition of our education system crosses party lines

1

Fabulous_Soup_521 17 hr ago +22

America the clown show.

22

ukexpat 15 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +3

Was this in celebration of the American Education system?

3

aradraugfea 16 hr ago +6

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

6

Digifiend84 13 hr ago

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 17 hr ago +7

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

7

Actual_Friendship802 17 hr ago +4

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

4

BluestreakBTHR 17 hr ago +7

Porque no los dos?

7

Actual_Friendship802 16 hr ago +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 16 hr ago +3

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

3

CapitanianExtinction 16 hr ago +3

That's what happens when education is underfunded

3

tacotickles 15 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +3

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

3

TheHeathenStagehand 14 hr ago +3

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

3

CellistMundane9372 13 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +2

We aren't sending our best

2

Ooglebird 14 hr ago +2

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

2

SuperRonnie2 14 hr ago +2

The American education system…

2

Nessie 12 hr ago +2

When your dinkum is anything but fair.

2

Wally-Walker 12 hr ago +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_ 17 hr ago +2

Their minds are on founding penal colonies

2

Seagoon_Memoirs 17 hr ago +1

America was founded as a penal colony.

1

tomdon88 17 hr ago +4

I mean he is the king of Australia.

4

HankSteakfist 17 hr ago +1

I thought Lex Luthor was the King of Australia

1

FlaAirborne 17 hr ago +1

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

1

ChopEee 17 hr ago +1

These are the folks being accused of staging a shooting

1

jazzhandler 16 hr ago +1

Definitely more Veep than West Wing.

1

Downtown2 16 hr ago +1

Disparaging the boot is a bootable offense!

1

[deleted] 16 hr ago +1

[deleted]

1

TinyConfection7049 16 hr ago +1

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

1

brendenruth 16 hr ago +1

Someone definitely googled “flag with Union Jack” and guessed

1

killerwithasharpie 15 hr ago +1

The Administration That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

1

yetzt 15 hr ago +1

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

1

Reasonable-Turn-5940 15 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +1

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

1

avatoin 14 hr ago +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 14 hr ago +1

The orange faced idiot strikes again.

1

Blueopus2 14 hr ago +1

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

1

DogPlane3425 13 hr ago +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 13 hr ago +1

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

1

Scaryclouds 13 hr ago +1

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

1

Nitsude 13 hr ago +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 11 hr ago +1

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

1

BlueEyes294 8 hr ago +1

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

1

ThreeMarlets 17 hr ago +1

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

1

Frank9567 12 hr ago +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] 17 hr ago

[deleted]

0

MegaLemonCola 17 hr ago +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 15 hr ago +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 17 hr ago +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 16 hr ago +1

At least it wasn't Austrian flags.

1

Frank9567 12 hr ago +1

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

1

Kid_McCabe 16 hr ago +1

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

1

RedDirtNurse 15 hr ago +3

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

3

Automatic_Rabbit82 16 hr ago +1

"Do you come from the Land Down Under?"

1

pqratusa 16 hr ago +1

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

1

popsferragamo 15 hr ago +1

Welcome to 🤡 town. Prepare to be embarrassed

1

hyund41n 15 hr ago +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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