British blunder: Cypriot flag hung upside down during an official visit

British minister and Cypriot deputy minister to the President posted photos with the Cypriot flag hanging upside down

An unexpected occurrence took place during the visit of the Cypriot Deputy Minister to the UK Prime Minister Irene Picci.

During Irene Picci’s meeting with UK Minister to the Cabinet Office, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, according to protocol, at the end of their meeting the ladies stood in front of the two flags of both countries for the customary photograph.

However, no one noticed from the officials in charge of protocol at the British Ministry that the Cypriot flag hung upside down! The British official even made a related post on Twitter about the meeting with the flag placed upside down!

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Irene Picci spoke on a television program referring to the incident, clarifying that immediately following the first photos it was observed that the flag hung upside down and was corrected.

She added that she herself will post a photo with the flag of Cyprus placed appropriately. “It was definitely a mistake. There are photos with the proper orientation of the flag,” she went on to say.

Their tweets read:

Grateful for the valuable insights and productive discussions with UK Minister of State, Baroness Neville-Rolfe, on policy coordination and implementation between UK-Cyprus. Looking forward to continuing our cooperation

Great to meet Irene Piki  to understand more about the Cypriot constitution and political  system and to share how the UK coordinates decision-making and policy implementation… 

Irene Piki went on to tweet that the mistake with the flag which hung upside down, was spotted and corrected and that the first photos were accidentally posted.