Flying the American flag upside down

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito made himself infamous by flying the US flag upside down at his property in association with Trump’s "Stop the Steal" movement. Today, one of my neighbors did the same to protest the illegal action of our demented president, so this begs the question about the origin and meaning of such an action. 

Flying the American flag upside down has two primary meanings: it used to be officially a distress signal for extreme danger to life or property, but has now evolved into becoming a popular symbol of political protest. Indeed, under the US Flag Code, flying the flag upside down is a recognized signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property. 

Historically, this originated as a maritime distress signal, functioning similarly to an "SOS." However today, it has mostly morphed into a symbol of political protest. In recent years, the inverted flag has been widely adopted by individuals across the political spectrum to signal that they believe the country is in crisis, or to protest the actions or direction of the government. 

Because the intended meaning depends entirely on my neighbor's context, the safest way to determine why he flies his flag upside-down is to simply ask him, which I have yet to do. I guess I’m not concerned about his immediate safety, so I won’t be checking in to make sure he’s not experiencing an emergency. 

From what I know of him, he must simply be extremely mad at Trump and exhausted by his behavior. As for me, you might wonder how I fly my US flag? Simple, I don’t have one, I’m considering myself a citizen of the world. That’s all!