The Daily Populous Tuesday April 28th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by coulls

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Australian flags were mistakenly hoisted in Washington, D.C., ahead of King Charles’ upcoming visit — in what could be described as a Down Under blunder.

On Friday, hundreds of national banners were installed across the capital to welcome the U.K. monarch, including British and American emblems. Somehow, 15 Australian flags were also included.

Photos show clusters of Australian flags lining black lamp posts near the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The confusion may have stemmed from the design: the Australian flag features the Union Jack in the upper-left corner, but is distinguished by six white stars set against a blue background.

The mistake was quickly mended, and the Australian flags were removed, a D.C. Department of ​Transportation official told Reuters.

open image in gallery The District of Columbia accidentally raised several Australian ​flags instead of British ones near ‌the White House in preparation for King Charles' visit ( Getty )

open image in gallery Photos show clusters of Australian flags lining lamp black lamp posts near the White House ( Getty )

The error sparked widespread chatter online, where many commenters poked fun at the mix-up.

“I blame George bush and no child left behind,” wrote on X user, while another chimed in: “They couldn't bother to take 15 seconds and google ‘UK flag?’”

Others, however, noted that the flag from Down Under would not necessarily be out of place.

open image in gallery The Australian flag (left) compared to the British flag (right) ( Getty )

“They should have kept the Australian flags up, Charles is constitutionally our head of state,” one X user wrote.

Charles is also ⁠the head of state for ​Australia, but the role is largely ceremonial.

King Charles is scheduled to arrive in the U.S. on Monday for a four-day state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He and his wife, Queen Camilla, will travel to Washington, D.C., New York and Virginia.

Gone2georgia on April 28th, 2026 at 00:40 UTC »

Seriously? How does this happen?

joelluber on April 28th, 2026 at 00:37 UTC »

To be fair, he is the King of Australia.

coulls on April 27th, 2026 at 22:12 UTC »

This is more than just a “oops” it shows that whoever is in charge of diplomatic vexillology matters is not qualified for the job. Or if they are qualified, they did not do it at a standard you’d expect.