Red flag
342493
225860633
2008-07-15T19:09:01Z
Xn4
1896773
/* External links */ + full text of lyrics online at fordham.edu
{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Red flag II.svg|thumb|280px|right|The plain red flag is often used at communist or far-left rallies, especially on [[May Day]].]]
'''Red flags''' can signify a warning, [[martial law]], defiance, or [[left-wing]] politics. The earliest citation for "red flag" in the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' is from 1602 and shows that at that time the flag was used by military forces to indicate that they were preparing for battle.<ref>'''1602''' Dekker Satirom. ''Wks.'' 1873 I. 233 What, dost summon a parlie, my little Drumsticke? tis too late: thou seest my red flag is hung out.<br>'''1666''' ''Lond. Gaz.'' No. 91/4 That the Red Flag was out, both Fleets in sight of each other, expecting every hour fit weather to Engage.</ref> It has been associated with left-wing politics since the [[French Revolution]].<ref name="Brink">Brink, Jan ten [http://www.amazon.com/Robespierre-Red-Terror-Jan-Brink/dp/1402138296/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product ''Robespierre and the Red Terror''], 1899.</ref> The [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] and the [[French Section of the Workers' International|French Socialist Party]] use it. The red flag became a symbol of communism as a result of its use by the [[Paris Commune]] of 1871.<ref name="Revolutionary">"[http://revcom.us/a/045/story-red-flag.html Story of the Red Flag]", ''[[Revolutionary Communist Party, USA|Revolution]]'', [[May 19|05-19]]-[[2006]]. Retrieved [[December 2|12-02]]-[[2007]].</ref> The flags of several communist nations, including [[flag of the People's Republic of China|China]] and [[Flag of Vietnam|Vietnam]], have red backgrounds.
The earliest citation of "red flag" in the sense of a warning is dated 1777 and refers to a flag warning of flood.<ref>'''1777''' P. Thicknesse ''Year's Journey'' I. iii. 23 There is a red flag hoisted gradually higher and higher, as the water flows into the harbour [at Calais].</ref>
==History==
As early as the [[15th century]], the red flag was used as a "flag of defiance."<ref>[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vxt-dvf2.html#flagofdefiance| Flags of the World "Defiance"]</ref> It was raised in cities and castles under siege to indicate that they would not surrender.<ref>Old and New Edinburgh, pp. [http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/volume1/page60.html| 60][http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/volume1/page61.html| 61]</ref> "The red flag is a signal of defiance and battle," according to <i>Chambers Cyclopedia</i> (1727–41).<ref>Cited in "red flag," ''Oxford English Dictionary.''</ref>
The color red become associated with patriotism early in the [[French Revolution]] due to the popularity of the [[Phrygian cap]] and designs based on the [[Tricolor]] Flag, both introduced in 1790. A red flag was raised over the [[Champ-de-Mars]] in Paris on July 17, 1791 by Mayor [[Jean-Sylvain Bailly]] as a symbol of martial law, warning rioters to disperse.<ref>Thomas Carlyle, [http://dickens.stanford.edu/archive/tale/print_issue10_gloss.html|''French Revolution''], p. 408.</ref> Over fifty anti-royalist protesters were killed in the fighting that followed. Oddly inverting the original symbolism, the [[Jacobins]] protested this action by flying a red flag to honor the "martyrs' blood" of those who had been killed.<ref>[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/fr_revol.html#red| Flags of the World, "French Revolution"]</ref> The Jacobin Club ruled France during the [[Reign of Terror]] (1793-94) and made the Red Flag an unofficial national flag.<ref name="Brink"/> However, the earlier Tricolor flag never lost its official status and regained popularity under [[Napoleon]].
[[Image:Lar9 philippo 001z.jpg|thumb|500px|left|"Lamartine, before the Hôtel de Ville, rejects the Red Flag," February 25, 1848. By Henri Felix Emmanuel Philippoteaux (1815–1884). The red flag represents terror, blood, and a "party's republic," Lamartine told the crowd.]]
In [[1797]], British sailors [[Nore mutiny|mutinied]] near the mouth of the [[River Thames]] and hoisted a red flag on several ships. The flag was also used during the [[Merthyr Tydfil|Merthyr riots]] of 1831 in [[South Wales]].<ref name="Revolutionary"/>
During the [[Revolution of 1848 in France|1848 Revolution]], [[Socialists]] and radical republicans demanded that the red flag be adopted as France's national flag. Led by poet-politician [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], the government rejected the mob's demand: "[T]he red flag that you have brought back here has done nothing but being trailed around the Champ-de-Mars in the people's blood in [17]91 and [17]93, whereas the Tricolore flag went round the world along with the name, the glory and the liberty of the homeland!"<ref>[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/fr_secdr.html| Flags of the World "France"]</ref>
The banner of the [[Paris Commune]] of 1871 was red and it was at this time that the red flag became a symbol of communism.<ref name="Revolutionary"/> A rally in [[Chicago]] in 1886, which resulted in the execution of some of the [[Haymarket Riot|Haymarket Eight]], also flew the Red Flag.
The red flag gained great popularity during the [[Russian Revolution]] of 1917.<ref name="su flag">[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/su.html| Flags of the World "Soviet"]</ref> The Soviet flag, with a hammer, a sickle and a star on a red background, was adopted in 1923.<ref name="su flag"/> Various Communist and socialist newspapers have used the name ''The Red Flag.'' The red flag, and the color red generally, was adopted by the Communist Party in [[China]], where red is associated with good luck.
In more recent times, [[social democracy|social democratic]] parties have gravitated away from the Red Flag as a symbol. However, several European parties retain a "red square" symbol, including Germany's [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|SPD]] and the [[Party of European Socialists]].
==The British Labour Party==
The red flag was the emblem of the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] from its inception until the [[Labour Party Conference]] of 1986 when it was replaced by a [[red rose]]. The red rose has subsequently been adopted by a number of other socialist and social-democratic parties throughout Europe. Members of the party would also sing the traditional anthem ''The Red Flag'' (see below) at the conclusion of the annual party conference, but this was also dropped in 1999. In February 2006 the ''Red Flag'' was sung in Parliament to mark the centenary of the Labour Party's founding.
[[Image:Flag of the Soviet Union 1923.svg|thumb|450px|right|The flag of the [[Soviet Union]], adopted in 1923. This version was used until 1955, when the flag was modified slightly. The flag lost official status in 1991, when the Soviet Union broke up.]]
==The song "The Red Flag"==
The song "The Red Flag" was written by Irishman [[Jim Connell]] in 1889. It is normally sung to the tune of the German [[Carol (music)|carol]] ''[[O Tannenbaum]]'', though Connell had wanted it sung to the tune of a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]] anthem called ''The White Cockade''.<ref>Hear recording: [http://www.comms.dcu.ie/sheehanh/songs/rf-wc-dg.mp2]</ref>.
The first verse and the chorus, the most popular part of the song, are as follows:
:::: ''The people's flag is deepest red,''
:::: ''It shrouded oft our martyr'd dead''
:::: ''And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,''
:::: ''Their hearts' blood dyed its ev'ry fold.''
::::: ''Then raise the scarlet standard high,''
::::: ''Within its shade we'll live and die,''
::::: ''Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,''
::::: ''We'll keep the red flag flying here.''
There are a number of satirical versions of the song, such as "[[The People's Flag is Palest Pink]]".
===Modern red flag songs===
[[Canada|Canadian]] [[punk rock|punk rock]] group [[Billy Talent]] released a song entitled ''[[Red Flag (song)|Red Flag]]'' which is about a revolution.
==Laws to ban red flags==
During the [[First Red Scare]] in the United States, many [[U.S. state]]s passed laws forbidding the flying of red flags, including [[Minnesota]], [[South Dakota]], and [[Oklahoma]]. Most of these statutes have been repealed by state legislatures, but an Oklahoma statute still provides that flying "any red flag or other emblem or banner, indicating disloyalty to the Government of the United States or a belief in anarchy or other political doctrines or beliefs, whose objects are either the disruption or destruction of organized government, or the defiance of the laws of the United States or of the State of Oklahoma" is a felony with a possible 10 year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine. The constitutionality of this statute is in question but has not been tested in the courts to date.
== Other uses of red flags ==
"Waving a red flag" is a [[euphemism]] for [[incitement]]; the metaphor comes from the sport of [[bullfighting]], in which the matador provokes the bull by waving a red cape at it.
A signal of [[danger]] or a problem can be referred to as a [[red flag (signal)|red flag]]. In many countries a red flag is flown to signify that an outdoor [[Shooting_range|shooting range]] is in use. The [[United States Air Force]] refers to its largest annual [[military exercise|exercise]] as [[Red Flag (USAF)|Operation Red Flag]].
Red flags are used for various signals in team sailing races (see [[Racing Rules of Sailing]]).
Red flags are used in some forms of auto racing to indicate a stoppage.
==References==
* [http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?id=69131&hits= Oklahoma Statute 21 O.S. §374], O.S. 5 § 9 (374), Statutes Citationized, Oklahoma State Courts Network.
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Red star]]
*[[Hammer and sickle]]
*[[Anarchist symbolism#Black flag|Black flag]]
*[[Flag of the Soviet Union]]
*[[Flag of the People's Republic of China]]
*[[Flag of Vietnam]]
*[[Red Ensign]]
*[[Red bloc]]
*[[Communist symbolism]]
*[[Flag of Oklahoma]]
*[[Eureka Flag]]
*[[Gallery of confusable flags#Red|Red flags]] in the [[Gallery of confusable flags]]
==External links==
{{commons|Red flag}}
*''[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/redflag.html The Red Flag]'' - full text of lyrics online at fordham.edu
*[http://www.comms.dcu.ie/sheehanh/connell.htm The Red Flag, the song, the man, the monument]
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