US officials forced to make red-faced U-turn after flying Australian flags to celebrate King Charles

Dorothy Reddin
Sun, 26 Apr 2026 13:49:38 +0000

American officials were left red-faced after mistakenly hoisting 15 Australian flags near the White House instead of Union Jacks ahead of King Charles's state visit, which begins tomorrow.

The embarrassing error occurred on Friday as workers installed hundreds of national banners throughout Washington DC to welcome the monarch.

Whilst British and American flags were correctly positioned along ceremonial routes, the Australian banners were spotted flying from black lamp posts close to both the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

A spokesman from the DC Department of Transportation confirmed to the Star that the flags were swiftly removed once the blunder was brought to their attention.

The gaffe quickly became a source of amusement online, with social media users ridiculing the mix-up.

One commenter on X quipped: "I blame George Bush and No Child Left Behind."

Another wrote: "They couldn't bother to take 15 seconds and Google 'UK flag?'"

However, some Australians offered a tongue-in-cheek defence of the error.

They pointed out that King Charles serves as their constitutional head of state in a largely ceremonial capacity.

One Australian user suggested the flags should have remained in place, writing: "They should have kept the Australian flags up, Charles is constitutionally our head of state."

The King is due to arrive in the United States tomorrow for a four-day state visit commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

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Accompanied by Queen Camilla, Their Majesties will visit Washington DC, New York and Virginia during their tour.

A meeting with Donald Trump is scheduled, with the President indicating he intends to discuss "everything" with the monarch, including the Iran conflict and Nato matters that have strained transatlantic relations.

The King and Queen will attend a White House dinner as guests of honour, and Charles has received an invitation to deliver an address to a joint session of Congress.