Flying colours
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Marlene at Poppy Patchwork, or rather, her little cat, Lilly, ‘passed with flying colours’ at her recent visit to the vet. That’s always an excellent appraisal, but Lilly wasn’t wearing any colours, other than her home-grown fur, so what did the vet mean?
The phrase is a maritime expression from the Age of Exploration, (early 15th to early seventeenth centuries) when much of the globe was explored by European sailors. The ‘colours’ were the flags that ships flew to indicate their nationality and to communicate with other ships.
Ships would not legally fight unless their national flags were flying.
After battle, ships would return to port with flags flying to show that they had been victorious. If their flags had been lowered, it was a signal that they had been defeated. To pass (the harbour bar) with flying colours was a way of saying they had been triumphant, and was adopted by landlubbers as a phrase to declare success.
Sometimes, unfortunately, a ship would sink with colours flying, the crew having continued to fight valiantly despite clear defeat. Often, colours would be nailed to the mast, indicating a determination to fight until the bitter end.
To ‘nail your colours to the mast’ or ‘show your true colours’ means to show your true intent, your alliance.
Pirates and other malefactors frequently sailed ‘under false colours.’ They would hoist the sail of a friendly nation and thus be able to approach closely a ship in which they were interested, probably one carrying valuable cargo. The notorious pirate, Blackbeard, used such a ploy, but as the ships closed, he would then reveal the ‘Jolly Roger,’ (the skull and crossbones flag), and the crew would surrender the ship.
As Lilly and her family live near Portsmouth, it is appropriate that she ‘passed with flying colours.’
I think I did know this in a vague kind of way, as my father was Navy, but this is an excellent summary and much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting when you take a word and give it's origin.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the explanation
ReplyDeleteWell....I'm getting better?? I was familiar with all the phrases and their origins except "nail your colours to the mast"... Counting it as a win. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this, I never knew the origin of "passed with flying colours"
ReplyDeleteIn German, instead of "sailing under false colours" it is "under a false flag" - of course literally meaning the same thing.
ReplyDeleteIt seems many common English language expressions owe a lot to English maritime history.
ReplyDelete