You had one job France

You were intended to view it from a different angle. If you were to watch it from the side if they were going away from the camera, it would also look like a Russian flag. It's a matter of perspective.

but look- the white and red stripe are swapped when you turn it sideways

My point still (technically) stands

Even if you viewed it so the stripes appear in the correct direction the order would still be wrong (RBW or WBR). Should be BWR, which is not possible to get just by rotating. The angle just makes it appear as the Russian flag so it's more funny than viewing them "vertically".

Vlad: "Spasiva."