Annotation_raster is not displayed, when one scale is reversed. qplot(mpg, wt, data = mtcars) + annotation_raster(rainbow, xmin = 15,xmax = 20, ymin = 3, ymax = 4) swiching xmin and xmax, doesn't affect plotting qplot(mpg, wt, data = mtcars) + annotation_raster(rainbow, xmin = 20, xmax = 15, ymin = 3, ymax = 4) doesn't work qplot(mpg, wt, data = mtcars) + annotation_raster(rainbow, xmin = 15, xmax = 20, ymin = 3, ymax = 4) + scale_x_reverse() Workaround: negative Coordinates qplot(mpg, wt, data = mtcars) + annotation_raster(rainbow, xmin=-15,xmax=-20, ymin=3, ymax=4) + scale_x_reverse()