“Due to an error, the Spanish flag was incorrectly positioned at the beginning of the summit,” said Nato spokesperson Oana Lungescu.

It was displayed the wrong way up when Prime Minister Sánchez gave his opening speech to world leaders, including American president Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

As can be seen in the picture above, although the red, yellow and red stripes of Spain’s flag look correct, the coat of arms is the wrong way up.

The situation was particularly embarrassing for the Spanish government as Madrid is this year’s Nato host nation. 

“The error was immediately corrected, as you can see in the photo. Nato apologises for this mistake and thanks Spain for the outstanding hosting of the Summit,” tweeted Lungescu.

Due to an error, the Spanish flag was positioned incorrectly at the start of the Summit. The error was immediately corrected, as you can see in the photo. #NATO sincerely apologises for this mistake & thanks Spain 🇪🇸 for the outstanding hosting of the Summit. pic.twitter.com/0ctWCnz7pQ

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) June 29, 2022

Government sources have told the Spanish press that it was a “Nato error” given that the summit is being organised by staff belonging to the intergovernmental military alliance, even though Spain is the host and is helping with proceedings. 

This is not the first time there has been an issue with the way the Spanish flag has been presented during an official event.

Recently in April 2022, while Sánchez had a dinner meeting with Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, the same mistake occurred and the flag was also seen hanging upside down.