I've owned two totally stock GNs and both trunk emblems are on the driver's side of the deck lid. I'm a STICKLER for detail and have researched anomalies with our cars and the reasons behind them.
For the record, your deck emblem should be on the driver's side with the bottom of the "6" 1/16-1/8" below the crease in the trunk. A major mistake such as this would be almost non-existant. My uncle worked for GM as a quality inspector and I've discussed this at length with him. A mistake of this calibre would have been caught immediately at the factory. Is it possible a couple squeaked by, sure. But not the amount of people reporting the emblem on the wrong side. Most likely the emblem was removed (repaint, repair, etc.) and replaced without remembering which side it came from. My research indicates Buick had templates that directed where to place these emblems which is why original cars have them in identical locations down to the 1/16 of an inch. I've personally seen ALLEGEDLY "100% stock original" cars with the fender emblems way too high. It's an immediate tip-off something's not right.
I have to ask, how long have you owned this car? How many previous owners were there? Look VERY carefully for repaint evidence. If it's still totally original it should have some SERIOUS orange peel (you should see my car). If it has higher mileage and still original, then it should show quite a few swirl marks along with orange peel.
On a side note, my first GN was purchased in 1990 from the original owner and had never seen a body/repair shop. I owned the car for almost 10 years before discovering my dash plate over the glove box was incorrect. It bore "Buick Regal" instead of Grand National. In fact I was accused by several people of owning a clone...not true. My uncle said that since it was such a subtle mistake it probably wasn't noticed by quality inspectors. He suggested the reason for the wrong plate was due to the parts bin running dry of the Grand National ones during production. The person responsible for installing them would have had bins full of others for the differing models of Buicks. I imagine they didn't want to stop the assembly line for such an anomalie so they kept production up and stuck on the wrong plate. My uncle confirmed this theory since he and my dad (longtime GM employee) said this wasn't uncommon back then and especially in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, parts management is much better.
Anyway, if I were a betting man I'd say your car was actually built correctly and someone replaced the emblem in the wrong spot. In fact, after re-examing your photograph it appears your fender emblems are too high as well...that's an indicator. It appears that your fender emblems are in line with your door handles which is waaaay too high. They should be door lock lever or a tad below. Look at my
car and compare for yourself.
Best of luck,
