Understanding the Upside Down Flag Symbolism

The discovery that an upside-down American flag — a symbol adopted by the campaign to overturn the 2020 election result — had flown at the home of Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. elicited concerns from politicians, legal scholars and others. And then came news of a second flag.

Jodi Kantor, the Times reporter who broke the stories, discusses the saga.

Guest: Jodi Kantor, an investigative reporter for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• An upside-down American flag, a symbol adopted by Trump supporters contesting the Biden victory, flew over the justice’s front lawn as the Supreme Court was considering an election case.
• The justice’s beach house displayed an “Appeal to Heaven” flag, a design carried on Jan. 6 and associated with a push for a more Christian-minded government.
• The displays renew questions about the Supreme Court’s impartiality.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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