Did you ever wonder why the red diagonals on the United Kingdom’s flag are not aligned? Or, how the Sri Lankan flag, with a lion and a sword, is totally ‘badass’? And that the flag of Cyprus looks like a Cyprus-shaped coffee stain?
With a Twitter thread to beat all Twitter threads, British-born Chinese comedian Ken Cheng is on a colossal mission to disrespect every flag, from every country, one tweet after another - that makes it 195.
“People are getting worked up at the idea of disrespecting a flag,” Cheng told indy100. “But I thought it would be fun to do all of them, in the true spirit of equality. I don’t actually hate them, in fact not caring about them, either way, is why I’m happy to disrespect them.”
Cheng, who is a ‘professional poker player’ according to his Twitter bio, began lightly roasting the world’s flags following the controversy surrounding NFL players kneeling during the American national anthem before a game, as a peaceful protest against racism.
Some of Cheng’s observations are hilariously spot on. Bahamas looks like “the start of a solar eclipse by a triangular moon”. Others are just snarky. Botswana needs to “learn art”. And all the flags with the Union Jack in the corner which clearly have severe “daddy issues”. Flags with three colours were roundly criticised for being boring while others with imperfect geometric symmetry -- looking at you, Union Jack -- were quartered too.
After Cheng put out his take on the flag of Ireland, which looks very similar to India’s, many people demanded he comment about India’s flag too. This is what he said:
Been asked "Ffs how many days are you gonna take to finish this".
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 27, 2017
Look, this is too big to fuck up. Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I've planned it out till 2028.
Speaking of Ireland, India you are just a rotation and then someone dropped their bike tire on it
[80/195] pic.twitter.com/6HNXe27lAY
The thread, at the time of writing, was retweeted over 15,000 times and the individual flags themselves have been shared multiple times.
The tweets have got a flurry of reactions from across the globe.
While some thought Ken’s observations were ‘educational’, there were others who were smitten by his brutal dissection. Another suggested this be turned into a coffee table book.
Here are the funniest attacks by Ken:
Thread where I disrespect every flag of every country one by one
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
The US flag: god it's shite
[1/195] pic.twitter.com/au3hQaHBUg
United Kingdom:
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
What is this why are the red diagonals not even aligned
[2/195] pic.twitter.com/UtntaF6fFw
wtf you didn't even try, just 3 colours what are you an ice cream
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
[3/195] pic.twitter.com/2y4dAw2L85
Some flags, however, did get Cheng’s grudging respect.
ok Sri Lanka is p badass, it's a lion with a SWORD, a lion is already a powerful animal in the wild and they gave it a SWORD
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
[16/195] pic.twitter.com/pR7d9L6oCz
fuckin hell Mozambique has an actual rifle in it, but also a book? I admire their balanced view on life, maybe we do need both?
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
[20/195] pic.twitter.com/s68PthoVWm
Don't even get me started on all the flags with the Union Jack in the corner, like some serious daddy issues there Australia
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
[44/195] pic.twitter.com/aLW8cfWKXH
And no it doesn't make up for it if you get a 5 year old to do a drawing of a lion Fiji
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
[46/195] pic.twitter.com/vwoOIXytK7
I can't finish this today, so I will be back tomorrow for more.
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 25, 2017
Cyprus looks like a coffee stain that looks like Cyprus
[61/195] pic.twitter.com/QxneV3qXd0
Good morning everyone!
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 26, 2017
Saudi Arabia looks like one of those cryptic brain teasers for "the pen is mightier than the sword"
[63/165] pic.twitter.com/itKoryhFuY
Please send in new applications! I have learned my lesson and am now paying my interns!
— Ken Cheng (@kenchengcomedy) September 26, 2017
Pakistan try harder
[77/195] pic.twitter.com/lW9ev0QiQo
