Flying the US flag upside down is an SOS, stating that we are in distress and require immediate assistance. It means we may not survive without help from another. To whom are we reaching out for assistance? China? Are we citizens no longer able to help ourselves?
I understand how you think, I disagree that the symbolism lacks any importance; but the symbolism is more than mere symbolism “among ourselves” and is a signal to our fellow citizens that yes, “we” are in distress and need to help each other work to right the ship of state; it is a signal to end complacency, to end the thinking that “others will do it”, to end the thinking that we are not in fact capable of rising above the aims of the political class.