flag

flag n Flag, ensign, standard, banner, color, streamer, pennant, pendant, pennon, jack are not always clearly distin-guished.

Flag, the comprehensive term, is applied to a piece of cloth that typically is rectangular, is attached to a staff, mast, halyard, or line, and carries an arrangement of colors, an emblematic figure, or a motto. The purpose of a flag is primarily to serve as a sign or symbol of a nation, a branch of the service, an organization, or an office, but it may also serve as a signal (as in military or naval operations) or in giving information (as of a weather change or the approach of a train)

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the flag of England

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the admiral's flag

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a flag of truce

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a trainman's flag

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Ensign is applied chiefly to a flag that indicates nationality and specifically to one flown by ships at sea

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the Stars and Stripes is the national ensign of the United States

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of the three ensigns of Great Britain, the white ensign is flown by ships of the Royal Navy and by naval barracks, the red ensign by British merchant vessels, and the blue ensign by some vessels commanded by officers of the Royal Naval Reserve and by some classes of government vessels not part of the navy

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Standard and banner are more or less literary terms for the flag (as of a country, a party, or a religious, civic, or patriotic organization) thought of as a rallying point or as something to be followed.

Standard especially suggests the former because the term originally designated and still often designates a flag or a sculptured figure raised on a pole so as to be a gathering point for all who belong under it

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as armies at the call of trumpet. . . troop to the standard— Milton

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Banner basically applies to a flag (often hung downward from a crosspiece instead of flying from a staff) of an individual (as an emperor, king, lord, or military leader) which was formerly flown from windows or doors or carried aloft at the head of a procession (as of troops marching to war)

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hang out our banners on the outward walls; the cry is still "They come"— Shak.

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terrible as an army with banners— Song of Solomon 6:4

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Color (most frequently found in the plural colors) may apply to a national flag, to a flag emblematic of affiliation or partisanship, or to a flag of most military units; the term is particularly likely to suggest military activity or display

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call to the colors

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hoist the colors

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troop the colors

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the British colors were planted on the summit of the breach— Wellington

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The remaining terms are highly specific and definite in implications.

Streamer applies to a long narrow flag (as on the masthead of a government ship) that floats in the wind; pennant and pendant, the latter more English than American, apply to a streamer that is long, narrow, and tapering. Pennant even more often applies to a narrow flag, typically triangular, which is flown by ships, which is used in signaling and in decorating, or which is exhibited (as by a baseball club) as a sign of championship.

Pennon may apply to a narrower flag or a small streamer suitable for attaching to a lance.

Jack denotes a small oblong flag indicating nationality which is hoisted on a staff at the bow or bowsprit cap of a ship or one used in signaling.

flag vb *droop, wilt, sag

Analogous words: *fall, subside, slump, sink, drop: ebb, wane, *abate