flag

Piece of cloth used as an emblem or symbol for nationalistic, religious, or military displays, or as a means of signalling. Flags originated from the representations of animals and other objects used by ancient peoples. Many localities and public bodies, as well as shipping lines, schools, and yacht clubs, have their own distinguishing flags.

National flags The Stars and Stripes, also called Old Glory, is the flag of the USA; the 50 stars on a field of blue represent the 50 states now in the Union, and the 13 red and white stripes represent the 13 original colonies. Each state also has its own flag. The US presidential standard displays the American eagle, surrounded by 50 stars.

The British national flag, the Union Jack, unites the crosses of St George, St Andrew, and St Patrick, representing England, Scotland, and Ireland. The flags of Australia and New Zealand both incorporate the Union Jack, together with symbols of the Southern Cross constellation.

The flags of the Scandinavian countries bear crosses; the Danish Dannebrog (‘strength of Denmark’) is the oldest national flag, used for 700 years. The Swiss flag inspired the Red Cross flag with colours reversed. Muslim states often incorporate in their flags the crescent emblem of Islam and the colour green, also associated with their faith. Similarly Israel uses the Star of David and the colour blue.

The red flag is the symbol of socialism.

The Canadian flag has a maple-leaf design. The Japanese hi-no-maru, a red disc on white ground symbolizing the sun, dates from the Middle Ages.

Signals A flag is flown upside down to indicate distress; is dipped as a salute; and is flown at half-mast to show mourning. The ‘Blue Peter’, blue with a white centre, announces that a vessel is about to sail; a flag half red and half white, that a pilot is on board. A white flag is the flag of truce, a yellow flag denotes quarantine, a red flag mutiny, and a black flag piracy.

History The Romans first used the manipulus, a wisp of straw or fern attached to a pole, which served as a rallying point for soldiers. This was succeeded by the figures of animals, such as the eagle, wolf, or horse, of which the eagle alone survived until the days of the empire. The first Roman flag was apparently the vexillum, the standard of the cavalry, a square piece of cloth attached to a crossbar on the end of a gilt staff. One of the earliest flags was the gonfalon, a square or oblong piece of cloth, sometimes with streamers, attached to a crossbar or fixed in a frame in which it could turn. The gonfalon of William the Conqueror bore a gold cross on a white ground with a blue bordure (border). The pennon was the ensign of the medieval knight bachelor and was a tapering flag forked at the fly, exhibiting the arms or badge of its owner and attached to his lance. The pennoncel, or pencil, was a small streamer, triangular in form, wide at the staff and pointed at the fly, carried by the esquires and bearing the badge of their leaders. The banner was a rectangular flag borne by nobles of the rank of knight banneret and upwards, and displaying the owner's coat of arms. The standard was a large, long flag tapering towards the fly and slit at the end. It displayed the owner's badge and varied in size according to his rank. In addition, the various trades and guilds also had special flags, which when necessary were carried into battle. Usually the ruler of a country has their own personal flag, known as the royal standard, though it is generally rectangular like the banner. The royal standard of the British Isles bears the quartered arms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.

Military flags The diversity of flags carried in medieval armies had necessarily to be replaced by greater uniformity when standing armies were introduced. At first each company of an English regiment had its distinctive colour, but in the reign of William and Mary the number of flags in each regiment was reduced to three, and later by Queen Anne to two, the royal and regimental colours. The foot guards, however, retain a separate colour for each company. The regiments of household cavalry each have three regimental colours besides the royal standards; the dragoons have the usual two colours; but the lancers and hussars have no colours.

Naval flags Formerly ships sailed under the individual flags of their captains, or of their port of origin, but now they sail under the national colours or flags of convenience. The union flag was introduced 1606 after the union of England and Scotland, and at first bore the crosses of St George and St Andrew. It was ordered by James I to be borne at the maintop of all British ships except ships of war, which bore it on the jackstaff at the end of the bowsprit, which is why it is wrongly known as the Union Jack. At the union with Ireland 1801, St Patrick's cross – a red diagonal cross on a white ground – was added, forming what has ever since been the national flag. It is still used as the man-of-war's jack, and also appears on all ensigns. The ensign is the flag flown upon the ensign staff of every vessel indicating its nationality. Formerly the British red, white, and blue ensigns were distinctive of the red, white, and blue divisions of the fleet, but in 1864 these divisions were done away with and new uses allocated to the three ensigns. The white ensign, a white flag bearing the cross of St George and with the upper corner near the staff occupied by the union device, is the exclusive flag of the Royal Navy and the Royal Yacht Squadron. The red ensign is a red flag with the union device in the upper quarter near the staff, and is flown by British merchant vessels. The blue ensign is a plain blue flag with the union device in the upper quarter next to the staff, and is flown by the Royal Naval Reserve and by certain yacht clubs. The union flag and the blue ensign are also used with various additions to denote various officials or departments. The flag for the colonies is the union flag with a white escutcheon in the centre, which bears the arms of the colony. The warships of Commonwealth navies still styled ‘Royal’ fly the white ensign aft, and the blue ensign with the country's special insignia at the jackstaff. Other Commonwealth warships fly their national colours.

The flag of the Lord High Admiral, known as the Admiralty flag, is red with a ‘foul’ anchor and cable in gold. It was flown over the Admiralty for the last time on 31 March 1964, after which the new Ministry of Defence became operational. The flag is now flown only when the sovereign visits naval establishments as Lord High Admiral. The flag of an admiral of the fleet is the Union Jack; an admiral's the cross of St George in red on a white ground; a vice admiral's and a rear admiral's similar to the latter, but with one or two red balls respectively in the upper or the upper and lower quarters nearest the mast. The earlier custom whereby an admiral flew his flag at the main, a vice admiral at the fore, and a rear admiral at the mizzen no longer applies. A commodore flies a broad pennant, a swallow-tailed flag tapering towards the fly and bearing the St George's cross, whereas other officers commanding ships of war fly a long, narrow pennant bearing a red cross on a white ground.

International flags The United Nations flag consists of the UN offical emblem in white on a light-blue field. Blue is also the colour of the flags of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Council of Europe.

flag

In botany, another name for iris, especially yellow flag (Iris pseudacorus), which grows wild in damp places throughout Europe; it is a true water plant but adapts to garden borders. It has a thick rhizome (underground stem), stiff bladelike leaves, and stems up to 150 cm/5 ft high. The flowers are large and yellow.

flag

In computing, an indicator that can be set or unset in order to signal whether a particular condition is true – for example, whether the end of a file has been reached, or whether an overflow error has occurred. The indicator usually takes the form of a single binary digit, or bit (either 0 or 1).