Answers.Body: <p>I asked them over chat and the answer was :</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>There's no a special reason, it's due to the mold. I know, it's not very romantic!</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3zrJ2.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3zrJ2.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T14:29:10.177Z
Answers.Text: Nice one! However, I would have liked to see more speculations about flag directions. Which chat did you use to contact LEGO employees?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Metalbeard
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T14:30:30.130Z
Answers.Text: @Aziraphale lego.com support section
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ankit Sharma
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T14:41:12.333Z
Answers.Text: Oh, it's that simple!? Actually, the LEGO answer is no answer at all. The shape of the piece is due to the mold. But WHY did they change it? That is the big mystery. Maybe a struggle between left-wing and right-wing politicians in the LEGO hierarchy?
Answers.UserDisplayName: Metalbeard
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T14:42:27.240Z
Answers.Text: @Aziraphale lol nice point
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ankit Sharma
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-18T05:09:13.737Z
Answers.Text: Yeah, no, like @Aziraphale said, that doesn't answer my question at all. The shape coming from the mold is obvious - it should be pretty clear that I'm asking why they changed the mold. If they don't have an answer to that, they can say so and I can roll with that, but as it is right now it just looks like they didn't understand my question at all. Having said that, I'm not in the business of shooting the messenger so I won't downvote this answer - I'll abstain from voting instead. I'll assume the 3 upvotes are for your taking the trouble.
Answers.UserDisplayName: LegoSonicBoy
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-18T05:17:45.607Z
Answers.Text: @LegoSonicBoy I am fine with that and my digging is still not stopped to get more
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ankit Sharma
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2018-12-17T10:57:35.650Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2018-12-17T11:02:57.707Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2018-12-17T11:02:57.707Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Ankit Sharma
Body: <p>Having just gotten back into LEGO this year, I noticed that the flags in my new sets are mirrored from all the flags I used to have. On the left is a green flag from <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/4162-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">4162 FreeStyle Multibox</a> from 1995, and on the right is a red flag from <a href="https://brickset.com/sets/10404-1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">10404 Ocean's Bottom</a> from this year — notice that they flow in opposite directions:</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GqdiL.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GqdiLm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ZQp6g.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ZQp6gm.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>
  
  <p>According to BrickLink, <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4495b" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this change was made in 2008</a>, and <a href="https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4495a" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the original mold stopped appearing in sets in 2010</a>.</p>
  
  <p>What was the reason for this change?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-15T19:39:50.810Z
Comments.Text: Maybe a radical change in the flag mold policy?
Comments.UserDisplayName: Metalbeard
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2018-12-15T20:22:54.247Z
Comments.Text: An informed answer seems unlikely, uninformed guesses are legion. My guess is the molding tool designer was thinking a flag is a flag just make it wave, It will be 8 years before any asks about it on Stack Exchange.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Dan1138
Tags: <piece-information><manufacturing>
Title: Why did LEGO switch the direction of flag elements in 2008?
UserDisplayName: LegoSonicBoy
ThreadText: # Why did LEGO switch the direction of flag elements in 2008?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-15)
  
  Having just gotten back into LEGO this year, I noticed that the flags in my new sets are mirrored from all the flags I used to have. On the left is a green flag from [4162 FreeStyle Multibox](https://brickset.com/sets/4162-1) from 1995, and on the right is a red flag from [10404 Ocean's Bottom](https://brickset.com/sets/10404-1) from this year — notice that they flow in opposite directions:
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/GqdiLm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/GqdiL.jpg)
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ZQp6gm.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/ZQp6g.jpg)
  
  According to BrickLink, [this change was made in 2008](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4495b), and [the original mold stopped appearing in sets in 2010](https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?P=4495a).
  
  What was the reason for this change?
  
  **Tags:** piece-information, manufacturing
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Maybe a radical change in the flag mold policy?  
  > **username_2**: An informed answer seems unlikely, uninformed guesses are legion. My guess is the molding tool designer was thinking a flag is a flag just make it wave, It will be 8 years before any asks about it on Stack Exchange.  
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2018-12-17. Score: 11
  
  I asked them over chat and the answer was :
  
  > There's no a special reason, it's due to the mold. I know, it's not very romantic!
  
  [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3zrJ2.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3zrJ2.png)
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Nice one! However, I would have liked to see more speculations about flag directions. Which chat did you use to contact LEGO employees?  
  > **username_3**: @Aziraphale lego.com support section  
  > **username_1**: Oh, it's that simple!? Actually, the LEGO answer is no answer at all. The shape of the piece is due to the mold. But WHY did they change it? That is the big mystery. Maybe a struggle between left-wing and right-wing politicians in the LEGO hierarchy?  
  > **username_3**: @Aziraphale lol nice point  
  > **username_0**: Yeah, no, like @Aziraphale said, that doesn't answer my question at all. The shape coming from the mold is obvious - it should be pretty clear that I'm asking why they changed the mold. If they don't have an answer to that, they can say so and I can roll with that, but as it is right now it just looks like they didn't understand my question at all. Having said that, I'm not in the business of shooting the messenger so I won't downvote this answer - I'll abstain from voting instead. I'll assume the 3 upvotes are for your taking the trouble.  
  > **username_3**: @username_0 I am fine with that and my digging is still not stopped to get more  
  
  ---
  
  