12/2/2023 0 Comments Red line flag meaning![]() The American flags seen in mass numbers at the various Convoy protests around Canada, including in Ottawa, have baffled many, despite being obviously outnumbered by Canadian flags. ![]() Non-Canadian national flags (including those of the United States, Romania, and Bolivia) Convoy protesters are likely trying to express both distress and dissent at the perceiving curtailing of their Charter freedoms under COVID-19 restrictions and under the Trudeau administration more generally.Īdditionally, considering the ties of many Convoy organizers and participating subgroups to white nationalism, the upside-down flag may be meant as a statement opposing the kind of increased immigration and multiculturalism that has characterized Trudeau’s government. The ever-present cries of “freedom!” among the crowd of supporters along with the hundreds of right-side-up Canadian flags clearly show that Convoy participants view themselves as patriots, but the upside-down flags send a darker, if somewhat hazy message about the perceived state of affairs in Canada. However, the presence in Ottawa of such a display comes as a surprise in light of the fact that Canadians are not known to be “fervent flag wavers” in the first place. In the United States, upside-down flags have appeared at a number of protests. Its increased use at protests is generally meant as an anti-government political statement, and sometimes specifically to express opposition to a country’s foreign policy approach while reaffirming national pride. The following is a list of symbols (with linked pictures) that have been spotted at the Ottawa protest, along with information as to their origins and meanings, and why they might be in Ottawa at all.Īccording to Canadian Heritage rules, the national flag should never “be flown upside down (except as a signal of distress in instances of extreme danger to life).” When flown upside-down outside of an explicitly political context like a protest, it is meant as a distress signal. Others, however, are more obscure, and their associations to the Convoy are perhaps inexplicable at first glance. Some of these are relatively self-explanatory, such as the Trump 2024 flag, the numerous Fuck Trudeau flags, and the People’s Party of Canada banners. ![]() Yet close examination of the meanings behind many of the flags and symbols employed so far reveals an unsettling truth: that far-right extremism continues to be a core part of the movement currently occupying Canada’s capital. Some of these seem to be fairly innocuous: strange symbols, perhaps, meant to send a creative message. When the swastika in particular was first spotted, many Convoy supporters rushed to insist that this blatant showing of white supremacy and antisemitism was an isolated hate incident that did not represent the views of the majority of those who supported the protest.īut a number of other flags and banners bearing lesser-known insignias have remained or since popped up in the nearly three weeks since the Convoy’s arrival in Ottawa. ![]() The Confederate flag and Nazi swastika were spotted on the first weekend the Freedom Convoy arrived in Ottawa, but casual onlookers since might be forgiven for thinking that hate symbols have disappeared from the downtown crowd. Law students from the University of Ottawa are filing dispatches for JURIST on the “Freedom Convoy” protest in Canada’s capital that has paralyzed the city for some three weeks.
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