If you happen to be at the Yosemite National Park in California this past weekend, you may have seen something unusual. An American flag was hung from a cliff face, but it was hanging upside down.
Many of us who live in the United States are accustomed to seeing the pattern of the American flag every day. It’s not just on flagpoles, we see it on T-shirts and decorating almost everything that we use in our lives.
Although the flag can be found on many different items that may seem as if they are everyday items, there are rules and guidelines surrounding how the flag can be used.
In the notes from Cornell Law School, they say: “The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free.”
Also, it states that the ‘flag should never be displayed with the union down’, so you may wonder why Yosemite had it flying upside down. It was actually on the top of El Capitan, a 3000-foot rock formation located within the park.
The flag was put up by a group of Yosemite employees on Sunday evening and they put it where it was so it would get a lot of attention. Because the code that determines how the flag is you said that it can’t be hung upside down ‘Except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.’
The workers at the park who hung the flag upside down meant to show that it was a matter of distress. They were protesting the recent government job cuts that hit the National Park Service.
1000 jobs at the agency were cut by Donald Trump’s administration which had a significant impact on the national Park and Forest employees. Eventually, they feel as if it will impact the experience the public has at the park.
A maintenance mechanic at Yosemite Park, Gavin Carpenter supplied the flag. He said: “We’re bringing attention to what’s happening to the parks, which are every American’s properties. It’s super important we take care of them, and we’re losing people here, and it’s not sustainable if we want to keep the parks open.”
After the flag was hung upside down, photos started circulating online. This included one from photographer Britney Colt, who wrote: “This hit so close to home for me. I witnessed several of my friends lose their jobs overnight while leaving our public lands vulnerable. These people had very valuable jobs, such as Search and Rescue and keeping the restrooms and park clean for visitors. If we lose the public servants, the park experience will get only harder and potentially more dangerous for visitors.”
Reports are that although there were additional announcements of job cuts, the Trump administration will restore at least 50 jobs for the National Park Service and 3000 additional seasonal workers will be hired.
