Online Dictionary

flag (n.) Explained

flag (n.) at English => English (English Etymology) Of Explained:

"cloth ensign," c.1480, now in all modern Gmc. languages, but apparently first recorded in Eng., origin unknown, but likely connected with flag (v.) or else, like it, onomatopoeic. A less likely guess is that it is from the flag in flagstone (q.v.) on notion of being square and flat. Flagship is 1672, ship bearing an admiral's flag. U.S. Flag Day (1894) is in reference to the adopting of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. ///