We all know that protocol dictates the leader of a State should be photographed in front of the flag of the State. But what happens when (as is normally the case) two leaders meet? Which flag should be on the right, and which on the left? And how do you determine which is left and which is right?

All these might seem very basic, common-sense questions. But sometimes, in the frenzy of handling visits, these are the things that slip our minds, and then slip us up, because the evidence is there in the official photo. No one is going to move the flag stands while the leaders are having their photo taken by a hundred and one cameras.

Easiest thing to remember is that the camera always looks AT the leaders. So, a “flag’s right” means for us, it’s on the left, since we’re looking at the stage.

Internationally-accepted protocol dictates that the host is on the right of a picture frame, and his guest is on the left (See accompanying picture). There are two reasons for this. The first is that because the person on the right of the frame uses his right hand to shake his guest’s hand, he can then appear more ‘open’ to the photographer, and can angle his body nicely.

The second is that in protocol, the guest of honour always sits to the host’s right. So this rule is adhered to. In the accompanying picture, we see that Vietnam is the host and President Obama is the guest. It corresponds to the bust at the back, indicating that it is in Vietnam and not in the United States.

The problem arises when the guest comes in from the left side of the host. He will then need to cross over to the other side in order to take his place in front of his flag.

Many people still get the placement of the flag wrong, because of the phrase “flag’s own right”, thinking that the host must be on the right side of the frame.

C’est la vie.

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