diff --git a/shared/nav.js b/shared/nav.js
index 00b4bbc..c46ca2d 100644
--- a/shared/nav.js
+++ b/shared/nav.js
@@ -110,15 +110,18 @@
         var header = document.querySelector('.app-header');
         if (!header) return;
         // Don't double-mount if a tool's main.js calls us a second time.
-        if (header.nextElementSibling &&
-            header.nextElementSibling.classList &&
-            header.nextElementSibling.classList.contains('zddc-stage-strip')) {
+        if (header.previousElementSibling &&
+            header.previousElementSibling.classList &&
+            header.previousElementSibling.classList.contains('zddc-stage-strip')) {
             return;
         }
         var project = projectSegment(location.pathname);
         var active = currentStage(location.pathname);
         var strip = buildStrip(project, active);
-        header.parentNode.insertBefore(strip, header.nextSibling);
+        // Mount ABOVE the header — the strip is project-level chrome
+        // (where in the project), the header is tool-level chrome (which
+        // tool, theme, help). Reading order matches outer-to-inner scope.
+        header.parentNode.insertBefore(strip, header);
     }
 
     // Expose for tests + opt-out.
diff --git a/tests/nav.spec.js b/tests/nav.spec.js
index 4dbd79e..95f9c26 100644
--- a/tests/nav.spec.js
+++ b/tests/nav.spec.js
@@ -79,13 +79,13 @@ test.describe('shared/nav.js stage strip', () => {
         ]);
     });
 
-    test('mounts immediately under the app-header', async ({ page }) => {
+    test('mounts immediately above the app-header', async ({ page }) => {
         await page.goto(`${baseUrl}/projA/archive.html`, { waitUntil: 'load' });
-        const next = await page.evaluate(() => {
+        const prev = await page.evaluate(() => {
             const h = document.querySelector('.app-header');
-            return h && h.nextElementSibling && h.nextElementSibling.className;
+            return h && h.previousElementSibling && h.previousElementSibling.className;
         });
-        expect(next).toContain('zddc-stage-strip');
+        expect(prev).toContain('zddc-stage-strip');
     });
 
 });