Flying Colors and True Colors

Funky Phrases

A student who confidently filled in all the correct answers on a test might justifiably proclaim, “I passed with flying colors.” The phrase carries a bit of boasting but more a sense of pride. On the other hand, if that student had cheated on the test and the teacher suspected but could not prove it, the teacher might say, “his true colors will be revealed before long.”

What do colors, flying or true, have to do with anything?

The colors in these two idiomatic references refer to the colors of a flag or pendant. When Shakespeare has King Henry VI say, “Sound trumpets. Let our bloody colors wave” (3HenVI, II,ii) he is signaling his troops to rally around his flag and follow him into battle. The battle in question initiates the War of the Roses and Shakespeare uses the adjective “bloody” both to identify Henry as a Lancastrian (the red rose side) and to foreshadow the many lives that will be lost before the civil war ends.

“Flying colors,” also has nautical connections. Before the era of modern communication, the only way to identify a passing ship was by recognizing the flags flying from its mast.

The Word Detective website associates the phrase more closely with a naval battle, saying “it most likely referred to a battleship which had been victorious in an encounter with the enemy and emerged from the fray with its ensigns still flying, indicating that no severe damage was done to the vessel.”

On the other hand, pirates often used the tactic of flying false flags, ones that would be interpreted by a targeted ship as belonging to a friendly nation. This allowed the pirate ship to get close enough to board the other vessel. When it was too late to avoid an encounter, the pirates would then reveal their true colors by hoisting a black flag portraying a skull and crossbones or some similarly intimidating image.

The website Brethren of the Coast states, “Pirate flags were a very important form of psychological warfare, especially when combined with a reputation of not showing any mercy if opposed.”

The very sight of a pirate flag was often enough to convince a merchant ship to surrender without offering resistance.

 

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