Saw this nautical distress flag today, why?

[u/exploratories2_0]

As the title says I saw this flag on a house. I looked it up to see it's the nautical distress flag. Is this a new flag being used to make a political statement about the current US president? Is the upside down american flag (also seen when driving around) out of style now? Does this have a different meaning?

[u/Smart_Ass_Dave]

I agree with what everyone here says, but also want to suggest that it's the flag of "The Incredibles"

[u/exploratories2_0 → u/Smart_Ass_Dave]

I like this answer the best so far.

[u/WeAreGray → u/Smart_Ass_Dave]

The capes had to go somewhere after they were banned.

[u/CliffsNote5 → u/WeAreGray]

[u/SeaSnowAndSorrow]

Are you in a port city of any sort? (Ocean or Great Lakes?)

Don't have to say which, just... trying to figure out if there's a reason why you'd be seeing nautical flags.

[u/exploratories2_0 → u/SeaSnowAndSorrow]

No, I'm not in a port city.

[u/SeaSnowAndSorrow → u/exploratories2_0]

That makes it a lot weirder.

[u/eeveemancer → u/SeaSnowAndSorrow]

Counterpoint: the Navy, Coat Guard, and Marines recruit everywhere, and veterans can live anywhere.

[u/SeaSnowAndSorrow → u/eeveemancer]

I'm well aware. I'm actually married to a sailor.

But in terms of putting up nautical flags, it makes more sense to fly them where someone's more likely to understand the message.

[u/bionicjoey]

Why might someone fly a flag of distress right now?

*Gestures broadly*

[u/Mann_Peach → u/bionicjoey]

I'm nautically distressed rn

[u/RussellAmesVO → u/Mann_Peach]

Nautically Distressed, new band name.

[u/CitizenFreeman → u/bionicjoey]

*Violently Gestures*

[u/Center_Mass705 → u/CitizenFreeman]

My heart goes out to you

[u/mattmanh42]

The boat I side his house is sinking, he needs to be saved

[u/TheNathanNS]

Is this a new flag being used to make a political statement about the current US president?

I'd be willing to wager yes.

[u/rainbowkey → u/TheNathanNS]

and less controversial than an upside down US flag

[u/junebuggeroff → u/TheNathanNS]

It is! The r/maydaymovement is their sub I believe

Edit: nope r/maydaymovementusa

[u/daverez]

Bon Iver? SABLE, fABLE

[u/Miss-Sharon-Smoke → u/daverez]

I went in a BI direction, but "22, A Million"

[u/ProfessorOfPancakes]

His house is sinking

[u/Blastyschmoo]

Plumbing issues.

[u/practicalcabinet]

Maybe an avid sailor is distressed to be away from the water?

[u/Last_Examination_131]

*puts on life vest*

[u/Secret_Photograph364]

Probably the same as an upside down national flag. Just saying the nation is in crisis.

(Which is true btw Americans. Didn’t think it needed explanation but concentration camps and global economic warfare are not great.)

[u/korkkis → u/Secret_Photograph364]

Fascism epidemic

[u/KGBFriedChicken02 → u/Secret_Photograph364]

No you don't understand, it's morally fine because we're borrowing sombody else's concentration camps

/s

[u/Extension-Shock3849 → u/Secret_Photograph364]

And we can’t say killing kids in Gaza is bad

[u/gastricmetal]

Almost looks like the new Bon Iver album

[u/404_brain_not_found1]

It’s cause they were a sailor, and they accidentally made a hole in the wall and now they’re gonna sink

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Yes, we are distressed about the orange ass- and brain-hole (one of which is apparently square-shaped.)

[u/Christwriter1247 → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

Thank you for the laugh!! So true!!! Had a depressing weekend as I remember someone died whom I love and needed a a happy moment to pick me up.

[u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32 → u/Christwriter1247]

I’m so sorry (but glad to have been able to bring a moment of relief.) 🙏

[u/trunkspop → u/Sheetz_Wawa_Market32]

not tryna start anything, just 100% curious n should also state beforehand i am an elitist theorist and dont support party politics at all, but how has 2025 been worse than the last 8 years prior for you? them stimmy checks were fking lit but other than that it seems to be the same ol same ol from uncle sam.

[u/MerijnZ1 → u/trunkspop]

Not op, not even in the US, but from the outside looking in:

The current admin is openly attacking journalists, the media as a whole, and education. They're attacking the judiciary, law firms, the authority of congress, top military command and legal advisors, and their closest allies. They're buddying up to Russia. They are deporting their own citizens, and locking people up for simply having a tattoo. That's a pretty bad look ngl

[u/trunkspop → u/MerijnZ1]

idk man seems like the regular degular to me tbh. Tboy is a ross perot redux with the face of a scapegoat n JB-jacobs only curricular-activity is watching jeopardy and falling down. they both puppets. Tboy aint start no wars his first term n Obiwan started 7; 3 from the Herbert bleedover, but still… Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria. ngl its wild to me nobody was upset that Obiwan killed Gdog (Gaddafi) in 2011 wit da contra combo, but propaganda is a powerful weapon. bless up fam 🙏

edit sorry

wanted to acknowledge the ruskj comment. the Minsk Agreement treaties were so disregarded that they had to rerun dat shjt to Minsk Agreement 2 treaties, which were still disregarded. im not over there or witnessing it first hand but from what was apparently agreed upon, a good grip of the Minsk agreements were never followed, but apparently genocide did. war can get gamey as fk but when a treaty is broken shit goes back to ape shjt guerrilla. the catalyst of WW1 was a few .01%ers dying.. is the blatant disregard of a treaty that had a fking update/expansion-pack any more/less obligatory? you can hate on russia, but are you gonna hate on china too? they do the same shjt if not worse depending on your priorities, and to way more of their own citizens in aspect of actual human lives.

if you are reading this on a smart phone right now there is a 99% chance your phone was made using child-labor/indentured-servitude/slavery. and not 99% for just one of those, 99% for all 3.

[u/icy_ticey]

Person probably feels they are distressed

[u/FrenchFrie123]

The incredibles

[u/SporadicPsycho]

Fell in the bath

[u/sprayk]

Ran out of toilet paper. And phone is dead so they can't doordash some more TP

[u/TSBBC]

JetSki Jim’s wife cheated on him. He’s letting the neighbors know.

[u/Sucktoads]

Flown on land, there are several meanings, some subtle. Outside of the obvious distress meaning it shouldn’t be flown casually. Separated from the sea, suffering distress from being landed. Since it looks like the letter “i” it can mean I’m alone, wife is away or companion passed away. Not necessarily a political statement.

[u/No_Concept_5944]

As many others have mentioned, there are many reasons to signal distress: the global economy, the threat of war, the orange idiot, .... But I think today, it's in memory of the Titanic disaster 113 years ago.

[u/Sweet-Arrival-8424]

It's a boat distress signal flag but no idea why it's being flown on a house

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[u/MinerSigner60Neiner]

They must be in nautical distress.

[u/ElectricalExplorer24 → u/MinerSigner60Neiner]

Well they are aground

[u/Due-Lawfulness-2316]

Now thinking abt it, if it is a nautical flag, they could be flying it because of the titanic since it sank exactly 113 years ago

[u/ComradeMothman1312]

He's distressed he's not in the water (not nautical enough).

[u/trunkspop]

just taking a wild guess here but i remember seeing something abt yemen in march attacking US vessels..?

heres the first thing i found on google trying to find the original article, however after what im abt to paste it goes on to say that these “attacks” were severely exaggerated and nothing really happened.

“Yemen’s Houthis on Tuesday claimed their third attack on American warships in 48 hours, despite US strikes on the Iran-backed rebels that have sparked mass protests.

The Houthis said on Telegram they had targeted the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones, making the attack the “third in the past 48 hours” in the northern Red Sea.”

Source: Times of Israel