Also 5–7 flagge. [A word found in all mod.Teut. langs., but app. first recorded in Eng.; cf. Da. flag (1569 in Kalkar), Sw. flagg, flagga (not in Söderwall, MSw. Dict.), Du. vlag (vlagghe in Kilian, 1599), Ger. flagge (17th c.; also flacke).
Whether the word originated in Eng., Du., or Scandinavian, it may plausibly be supposed to be an onomatopœic formation, expressing the notion of something flapping in the wind; cf. FLACK v., FLAG v.1, MDu. vlaggheren to flutter. If the word be of Eng. origin, there are other possibilities: it might be a transferred use of FLAG sb.1; or, if the primary sense were ‘square of cloth’ or the like, it might be the same word as appears in OE. flacg ‘cataplasma’ (Wr.-Wülck., 386) and flage, recorded in 1139 as an Eng. name for a baby’s garment (Du Cange, s.v.).]
1. A piece of cloth or stuff (usually bunting), varying in size, colour, and device, but most frequently oblong or square, attached by one edge to a staff or to a halyard, used as a standard, ensign or signal, and also for decoration or display.
For black, red, white, yellow flag, see the adjs. Bloody flag (Shaks., K. Hen. V., I. ii. 101): cf. quot. 1724.
[1481–90. Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 42. ij. stremers, standartes, and ij. fagges.]
1530. Palsgr., 220/2. Flag or baner of a felde, guidon.
1595. Shaks., John, II. i. 207.
| These flagges of France that are aduanced heere | |
| Before the eye and prospect of your Towne, | |
| Haue hither march’d to your endamagement. |
1612. W. Parkes, Curtaine-Dr. (Grosart), 47. Each Play-house aduanceth his flagge in the aire, whither quickly, at the waving thereof, are summoned whole troopes of men, women and children.
1676. Dryden, Aurengz., V. i.
| In either’s Flag, the Golden Serpents bear | |
| Erected Crests alike, like Volumes rear. |
1702. Royal Proclam., in Lond. Gaz., No. 3872/1. Any other Flags, Jacks, Pendants or Ensigns.
1724. R. Falconer, Voy. (1769), 118. After he had made a Speech to his Men to encourage them to fight it out, and told them their Advantage, they consented to hoist the Bloody Flag, and neither to give or take Quarter.
1783. W. Thomson, Watson’s Philip III., VI. 442. The flag of rebellion is displayed throughout all Bohemia, and by a powerful contagion, incites a general insurrection in Silesia, Moravia, Lusatia, Hungary, and the Upper Austria.
1834. M. Scott, Tom Cringle, 304. Don’t cease firing although his flag be down—it was none of his doing.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, xix. The church-bells rang out their noisy peals, and flags streamed from windows and house-tops.
transf. and fig. 1592. Shaks., Rom. & Jul., V. iii. 96.
| Beauties ensigne yet | |
| Is Crymson in thy lips and in thy cheeks, | |
| And Deaths pale flag is not aduanced there. | |
| Ibid. (1604), Oth., I. i. 157. | |
| I must show out a Flag, and signe of Loue. |
1663. Sir G. Mackenzie, Religious Stoic, xx. (1685), 160. Who would not … bow the flag of his private opinion to the commands of the Church.
1737. H. Bracken, Farriery Impr. (1756), I. 351. I have often … been sorry to see a Flag of Horse-Soles hung out upon every silly Smith’s Door.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 1254. When the ‘Licensed Victualler’ calls the barber’s white apron ‘the white flag of his profession,’ he errs; a white apron may be the ‘flag’ of the ‘Licensed Victualler’s profession,’ but it is not the barber’s ‘flag.’
1881. Miss Braddon, Asph., II. xii. 318. She started a little at Edgar’s entrance, and ‘blushed celestial red, love’s proper hue,’ much to the delight of her lover, who hung out a rosy flag on his own side, and looked as shy as any schoolgirl.
b. Flag (of truce): a white flag, carried by a messenger or hoisted on a vessel, to express a wish for parley with the enemy. Hence, the; person or the ship dispatched with a flag of truce.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., xlii. 98. Then the enimies helde up a flagge. [Margin] This flag was a sign and request of peace.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., xiii. 62. They hang out a Flag of Truce.
1775. R. Montgomery, in Sparks, Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853), I. 495. Firing upon a flag of truce, higherto unprecedented, even among savages, prevents my following the ordinary mode of conveying my sentiments.
1779. T. Jefferson, Lett., Writ. 1893, II. 259. A flag sails hence to-morrow to New York, to negotiate the exchange of some prisoners.
1810. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp., VI. 107. He should fire upon all flags in future.
1842. Campbell, Napoleon & Brit. Sailor, 61.
| He gave the tar a piece of gold, | |
| And, with a flag of truce, commanded | |
| He should be shipp’d to England Old, | |
| And safely landed. |
c. In various nautical phrases, as To give (deny, refuse, etc.) the honour of the flag: to make (or refuse) an acknowledgement of supremacy by striking the flag to another. To lower or strike one’s flag: to take it down, esp. in token of respect, submission, or surrender. The flag of defiance is out (naut. slang) (see quot. 1700).
1644. Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict., s.v. Flaggs, At sea to lower or strike ones Flagg in fight is a token of yeelding, but otherwise of great obedience and respect.
1673. Ld. Shaftesbury, Parl. Sp., in Collect. Poems, 235. They came to that height of Insolence, as to deny the Honour and Right of the Flag.
a. 1700. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Flagg … The Flag of Defiance is out, (among the Tars) the Fellow’s Face is very Red, and he is Drunk.
1779. F. Hervey, Naval Hist., II. 146. The first blood that was drawn in this quarrel was occasioned by commodore Young firing upon a Dutch man of war who refused him the honour of the flag.
1802. Windham, Sp. Definit. Treaty, 13 May, Sp. (1812), III. 428. The notion that peace would hush up all our dangers had induced us to give up to Holland the honour of the flag.
1881. Palgrave, Visions Eng., 275.
| Silent the whole fleet’s darling they bore to the twilight below: | |
| And above the war-thunder came shouting, as foe struck his flag after foe. |
2. Naut. A flag carried by a flagship to indicate that an admiral is in command, an admiral’s emblem of rank afloat. Hence, of the admiral, To hoist or strike one’s flag: to enter upon, or relinquish command.
1695. Lond. Gaz., No. 3088/4. A Squadron of Dutch Ships, whereof 3 carried Flags. Ibid. (1697), No. 3329/4. Sir George Rooke hoisted his Flag on Board the Defyance. Ibid. (1707), No. 4390/3. This Morning he struck his Flag on board the Nassau.
1769–89. Falconer, Dict. Marine, s.v. Admiral, Admirals that have carried no flag.
1796. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp., II. 187. The Admiral thinks I shall be ordered to hoist my Flag here.
1809. Sir A. Hammond, in G. Rose, Diaries (1860), II. 359. I never meant to charge him with having deprived me of my flag.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Flag.… Also, a certain banner by which an admiral is distinguished at sea from the inferior ships of his squadron.
b. A ship carrying an admiral’s flag, a flagship.
1652. Perfect Account, No. 101. 2065. The Garland … was engaged by two Dutch Flags.
1710. Lond. Gaz., No. 4755/2. That they did not do it is attributed to the Loss of their two Flags.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, vii. (Rtldg.), 67. We were ordered to Minorca to refit; here, to my great joy, I found my own ship, and I ‘shook the dust off my feet,’ and quitted the flag with a light heart.
c. Applied to the admiral himself. Also, Flag! the answer returned to a sentry’s challenge by an admiral’s boat.
1665. Pepys, Diary (1879), III. 274. Not giving to all the Commanders, as well as the Flaggs, he displeases all them, and offends even some of the Flaggs, thinking others to be better served than themselves.
1719. Sir E. Byng, in Torrington Mem. (1889), p. xi. I looked upon myself as an officer in whole pay (Admiral of the White), and by the rule then settled in the late war with France had equally as just a right to my whole pay as a flag of the fleet.
1747. J. Lind, Lett. Navy (1757), I. 23. If more than two flags, then the commander in chief is to have one half of the eight.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Flag.
3. slang. An apron.
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour (1861), I. 218. Flag, an apron.
1882. Echo, 29 Aug., 1/5. Ere long we may expect to hear that a Congress of Servant-girls has been discussing the use of the ‘flag.’
4. Sporting. The tail of a setter or Newfoundland dog. Also of a deer; occas. of a horse. Cf. quots. under FLAG a.
1859. ‘Stonehenge’ (J. H. Walsh), Dog, I. iv. 97. The stern, or flag [of the setter] … is furnished with a fan-like brush of long hair.
1883. G. Stables, Our Friend the Dog, vii. 60. Flag, the tail, applied to Setters and Newfoundlands.
1891. R. Kipling, Plain Tales, 148. A switch-tailed demirep of a mare called Arab because she has a kink in her flag.
5. ? = FAG sb.2
1874. Knight, Dict. Mech., I. 875/2. Flag. 3. The uneven end of an uncut tuft of hair in a brush.
1893. Standard Dict., Flag, the split end of a bristle.
6. Printing. A mark made by the corrector of a proof, showing an omission by the compositor of some words which are written by the corrector in the margin; an ‘out.’
7. attrib. and Comb., as flag-bearer, -case, -pole; flag-bedizened adj. Also flag-boat, a mark-boat in sailing or rowing matches; flag-captain, the captain of a flagship; flag-dues (see quot.); † flag-fallen a., unemployed; said of actors in allusion to the lowering of the play-house flag as a sign of closing; flag-furling a. (fig.), disposed to cease fighting, pacific; flag-lieutenant, an officer acting as an aide-de-camp to an admiral; flag-list, the roll of flag-officers or admirals; flag-pay, the pay of a flag-officer or admiral; flag-raising vbl. sb. (U.S.), a ceremonious hoisting of a party flag; flag-rank, the rank of admiral; flag-share, an admiral’s share (one-eighth) of prize-money; flag-station (Railways), a place where trains stop only when signalled to do so; flag-wagging, Milit. slang, signalling with flags held in the hand; flag-waver, one who tries to arouse popular enthusiasm; so flag-waving vbl. sb. Also FLAG-OFFICER, FLAGSHIP, FLAGSTAFF.
1887. Times (weekly ed.), 24 June, 4/4. The houses … were largely *flag-bedizened.
1835. Lytton, Rienzi, II. iii. The different servitors and *flag-bearers ranged themselves on the steps without.
1815. Sporting Mag., XLVI. 187. The Caroline passed first round the *flag-boat.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, vii. (Rtldg.), 66. I went accordingly, and saw the *flag-captain, who took my letters in to the admiral, and brought out a verbal, and not a very civil message, saying, I might join the ship, if I pleased, until my own returned to the station.
1870. Colomb & Bolton, Flashing Signals, 39. The *flag-case is made of strong patent leather, just large enough to receive the flag when folded and rolled up, and slides on the belt.
1892. Simmonds, Dict. Trade, Suppl., *Flag Dues, a charge on ships, in some harbours, for hoisting flags.
1609. Rowley, Search for Money, B iij/1. Foure or fiue *flag-falne Plaiers.
1801. in Spirit Public Jrnls. (1803), VI. 174. A fresh assortment of *flag-furling orations, expected by the pacific packet.
1798. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp., III. 2. I am much obliged by your note, and memorandum about the *Flag Lieutenant.
1873. Colomb, Let., 11 June, in Fifteen Yrs. Naval Retirement (1886), 13. A large nominally active *Flag List.
1719. Sir E. Byng, in Torrington Mem. (1889), p. ix. I was paid to the last of December 1712 my *flag pay; but some of the captains and other officers that were not commissioned for ships had no pay at all.
1884. Pall Mall G., 9 Sept., 3/2. That is a contretemps to which annexation by *flagpoles is occasionally exposed.
1864. Sala, in Daily Tel., 18 Nov. *Flag-raising consists in stretching a big banner … across a street; and this banner contains a colossal transcription of the particular ‘ticket’ which the flag-raisers support.
1892. The Republican (Hays City, KS), 21 May, 4/2. On April 30th our schools closed with a ‘flag raising.’ The pupils had been drilled to make a military salute and to repeat the following words while holding the hand at arms length toward the flag: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands; one nation inseparable with liberty and justice for all.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 7 Sept., 8/2. His profession of the Protestant faith having prevented his attaining *flag rank.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Flag-share.
1852. Hist. etc. County Oxford, 681. Here [Gosford] is a *flag station on the Oxford and Bletchley branch of the London and North-Western Railway.
1887. Pall Mall G., 24 March, 11/1. So … slow a process as that of *‘flag wagging.’
1894. Westm. Gaz., 28 June, 2/3. The Pretoria *flag-wavers.
1892. Pall Mall G., 12 Nov., 2/2. *Flag-waving is all very well, but it is a miserable proceeding when influenced by such sordid motives.
