Twitter has a field day with Sean Spicer’s upside-down flag pin

Gabby Kaufman
·Reporter
White House press secretary Sean Spicer adjusts his American flag pin after he was told that it was upside down March 10, 2017, during the daily press briefing at the White House. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)
White House press secretary Sean Spicer adjusts his American flag pin after he was told that it was upside down March 10, 2017, during the daily press briefing at the White House. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP)

White House press secretary Sean Spicer opened the daily briefing Friday sporting an upside-down American flag lapel pin, leading many to joke it was a “cry for help” from the president’s most prominent spokesman.

An upside-down flag is “a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger,” according to the United States Flag Code. It’s also recognized as a form of protest against the government.

Twitter users watching the briefing quickly took notice of the faux pas.

Fox News’ John Roberts alerted Spicer to the mistake, which he then corrected. Another reporter in attendance asked if Spicer was promoting “House of Cards,” which uses an upside-down flag for its logo. The Twitter account for the show quickly retweeted an image of Spicer before he fixed his pin and wrote, “Your loyalty has not gone unnoticed.”