Have you ever wondered?

There are a number of things about the military that intrigue me. I love history and the military is rich in tradition. I often find myself asking my husband questions about this and that... Some he answers quickly, others, I get a blank look that means "I have no idea. Why are you asking me that?"

One such question popped into my head shortly after Nate and I married. He was putting on his uniform one morning, as he did everyday, and the flag on his right arm caught my interest. "It's backwards," I said. He immediately looked down to check his undershirt...making sure the tag was at the nape of his neck. "No. The flag. It's backwards." I got the look. The what-the-heck-are-you-talking-about look.

"Baby," I explained, "the flag on your arm. It's backwards. Why is it backwards?"

I love our flag. I could draw it in my sleep, and darn it, I know for a fact that the blue field of stars is on the left as you are looking at it. His flag's stars were on the right. I was perplexed. This was a military uniform. Surely they knew which side the stars were supposed to be on, so how did they manage to screw that up?

Nate mumbled something about it being on the right side and retreat, followed with an exasperated "I don't know, baby. I've got to go to work, and I can't remember right now."

Retreat? What? Right side? Of course they were on the right. That was my problem.

I googled it. When all else fails, google knows the answer. What did we ever do before the Internet? Oh yeah, encyclopedias. Haven't seen one of those in 15 years.

This is what I found: There are two types of flags that are made to be worn on a military uniform...one has the blue field of stars on the left, the other has the field on the right. The reason for the difference is that the blue field of stars should always be to the front, like the flag is moving forward.

Imagine that the soldier is a flag pole. As he moves forward, depending on which side of him you are standing, the blue field will always be to the front because it is the side attached to the pole. As long as the flag is moving forward, the blue field is to the front. So, the "traditional" flag patch, with the blue field on the left, is made to be worn on the left shoulder, while the "reversed" flag, with the blue field on the right, is made to be worn on the right shoulder.

If the "traditional" patch were worn on the right shoulder, the blue field would be to the rear of the soldier (moving backward) and therefore symbolically showing retreat. Retreat equals not good in military speak and very not good for pride and tradition.

Ok. So this made sense. But why was there only a flag on the right shoulder, and not the left?

I discovered that, for the Army at least, the flag goes on the soldier's right because the position of honor is to his/her right. On ACUs, it is placed on the top flap of the Velcro shoulder pocket, with the combat patch from the soldier's previous combat unit (if they have deployed) below the flag. If they have never deployed, there will be no unit patch on the right shoulder. On the left shoulder, the soldier will wear the patch of their current division or brigade.

All that being said, I've learned a lot about flags over the past two years. Did you know that if you hang a flag vertically, with the stripes pointing toward the floor, that the blue field of stars should be on the left side, facing the flag? Looks backward, doesn't it? But it goes back to the position of honor. If I was the flag, the position of honor would be to my right, so that is where the stars should be placed.

I can remember trying to explain all of this to Nate when he came home from work that evening... I was so excited! His response? "Oh, yeah. I knew that."

Sheesh. Why didn't he just tell me that and save me the trouble? Men. ;)