Inverted flags have been harnessed as a signal of distress but there is one other circumstance in which you might come across a flag flown upside-down intentionally, and that is as a statement of protest. This gesture 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 against a standing government or disapproval of a country's foreign policy.