The Diplomat
The Spanish flag was the anecdote of the opening day of the NATO Summit yesterday, because the one that appeared on the table where the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, spoke at the opening session, was placed upside down.
As happened on 7 April, during the dinner that King Mohammed VI hosted for Pedro Sánchez in Rabat, the national flag was upside down.
On that occasion, there were some interpretations that suggested that the flag’s placement in this way had been intentional on the part of Morocco, because this position could be interpreted as surrender to the enemy, according to some protocol experts.
The Spanish government then attributed it to a mistake, and it was another mistake, this time by the NATO organisation, that led to yesterday’s anecdote.
After the family photo of the Summit participants, they went to the plenary room, where the working sessions were held, and there they were addressed first by the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, and then by Pedro Sánchez, as host of the meeting. It was then that the small Spanish flag, with the coat of arms upside down, could be seen on the table occupied by the president.
Shortly afterwards, NATO, responsible for the protocol and installation of the flags at the event, said in a tweet from its spokesperson, Oana Lungescu: “Due to an error, the Spanish flag has been placed incorrectly at the start of the summit”.
After adding that “the error has been corrected immediately”, Lungescu indicated that “NATO expresses its sincere apologies for this error and thanks Spain for the incredible hosting of the summit”.
Along with these apologies, the message is accompanied by a photo showing Sánchez and the flag properly placed at the post assigned to Spain.
