I generally agree with both of you, but by the rules such a thing would be a violation of flag etiquette. I imagine it would cause a great uproar, but similar mistreatment would not--like flying the damn thing at night without a light. jeesshhhh...if you are going to fly it, you could at least read the little piece of paper that goes with it.
A true story:
As Jennifer and I were heading out for a cave in Central Misery (AKA Missouri) someone had posted three striped colors as one flag in order:blue, white, red. I'm sure this was an accident, because AFAICT there isn't a large French population in rural Missouri. For goodness sakes it wasn't even Creve Coeur!
So while many US citizens might take offense at rather strange things while being insensitive to our allies, just take it as cluelessness.
Larry