"Mike Keown" wrote:

Heard a curious conversation on a late night talk show.
One of the speakers said: " If you ever see a warship
flying its national ensign (flag) upside down it means that
the crew has mutinied and taken over the vessel..." Is that true? If so, is
it a international sign known to all sailors
and what mutiny originated it?

I'd recommend you stop watching that late night talk show. It appears
to be a source of idiocy. Particularly if the host didn't apply a
sanity check to the assertion.

Think about it a little, and you'll see the story fails the sanity
check. What mutinous crew, having been successful in taking over a
ship, would *advertise* that fact to every ship in sight by flying
their ensign upside down? The *last* thing a group of successful
mutineers wants to do is call attention to themselves and their ship.
They just want to get to a safe haven as quickly and quietly as
possible.

OJ III