Nailing the colours (also nailing the colours to the mast or nailing the flag) is a practice dating back to the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period in European history that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid-15th) to the mid-19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the int ...

that expresses a defiant refusal to surrender, and willingness to fight to the last man. During the Age of Sail, ships would legally fight only while flying their national flag. Flying another flag was considered to be a legitimate

ruse de guerre The French language, French , sometimes literally translated as ruse of war, is a non-uniform term; generally what is understood by "ruse of war" can be separated into two groups. The first classifies the phrase purely as an act of military decept ...

only until the beginning of the fight.

Striking the colours Striking the colors—meaning lowering the flag (the "colors") that signifies a ship's or garrison's allegiance—is a universally recognized indication of surrender, particularly for ships at sea. For a ship, surrender is dated from the time t ...

was a sign of surrender. Indeed, when shot or shrapnel felled a ship's flag (such as by severing the halyard that held it up), her opponent would cease firing and inquire whether she was capitulating. In contrast, fixing the

battle ensign A battle ensign is the name given to a large war ensign (flag) hoisted on a warship's mast just before going into battle. In what could become a very confusing situation with thick clouds of gunsmoke the ensign gave additional identificatio ...

with nails would prevent it from being removed easily, and effectively prevented the surrender. It became an expression of defiance and willingness to force oneself to fight up to the bitter end. The practice became a powerful and recurrent propaganda tool during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. It actually happened on the ''Tonnant'' at the

Battle of the Nile The Battle of the Nile (also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay; ) was fought between the Royal Navy and the French Navy at Abu Qir Bay, Aboukir Bay in Ottoman Egypt, Egypt between 1–3 August 1798. It was the climax of the Mediterranean ca ...

Aristide Aubert Dupetit-Thouars
archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr and on the ''San Juan Nepomuceno'' at the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

. It was also wrongly claimed that the ''Vengeur du Peuple'' had done so during the

Glorious First of June The Glorious First of June, also known as the Fourth Battle of Ushant, (known in France as the or ) was fought on 1 June 1794 between the British and French navies during the War of the First Coalition. It was the first and largest fleet a ...

, when she had in fact

struck Struck is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Adolf Struck Adolf Hermann Struck (1877–1911) was a German sightseer and writer. He is known for his Travel literature, travelogue ''Makedonische Fahrten'' and for surveying the ...

. In the Royal Navy, Jack Crawford became famous for the deed.

References

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External links

Nail your colours to the mast
The Phrase Finder Flag practices Naval warfare

See also

References

External links