"With flying colours" ("''with flying colors''" in

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

) is a popular

idiom An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a Literal and figurative language, figurative or non-literal meaning (linguistic), meaning, rather than making any literal sense. Categorized as formulaic speech, formulaic ...

of the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

that is used to describe how well someone has completed a task. For example, a common use of the phrase is to refer to someone having passed a test or other examination "''with flying colours''," i.e. passed the test easily or with an exceptionally high score. The phrase originated in the

Age of Exploration The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...

, when ships would return to port with their flags ("colours") either raised or lowered to signify that the ship had either been successful or defeated, with raised flags indicating success and lowered flags indicating defeat. Thus, "with flying colours" literally means that someone has completed a task, while idiomatically, it connotes particular success in that task.

History

In the past, without the use of modern communication devices, a ship's appearance upon the immediate return to the port could communicate how the crew fared at sea. Ships that were victorious in their endeavors – e.g. an encounter with an enemy ship – would sail into port with flags flying from the mastheads.Ammer, p. 127. A ship that had been defeated, on the other hand, would be forced to '' "strike her colours"'', or to lower their flags, signifying defeat. This practice was particularly relevant in the

, and prior to the 18th century the phrase was used solely as a nautical term. Later, it began to be used in the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

to signify any kind of triumph. Another phrase, ''"go down with flying colours"'' or ''"go down with colours flying"'' evokes a resolute crew fighting, even until their ship sinks. As an idiom, it means that someone has failed at something even while putting great effort towards it. A variant of this phrase is ''" Nail your colours to the mast,"'' and means that someone has done something to irreversibly commit themselves to a task or matter; referencing that by literally nailing the flags to the mast, the flags cannot be taken down to signify defeat. The word " ''colours''" is a common way to describe flags and insignia of military units.Breverton, p. 143. Flags or insignia may be referred to as ''colours'' in non-military contexts to express patriotism and nationality; other such examples of phrases include "''true colours''", or "''show your colours''". ''Flying colours'', of course, refers to the unfurled flags' position on the masthead, and the variants ''come off...''Hyamson, p. 148. or ''pass...'' simply mean to have returned from the sea and to pass into the harbour, respectively. Similarly, the phrase '' "sailing under false colours"'' was a reference to a tactic used by

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s or maritime robbers. By hoisting a friendly flag, the unsuspecting ship would allow the pirates' ship to approach without resistance, giving the pirates access to board their vessel. Edward Teach, the pirate known as

Blackbeard Edward Teach (or Thatch; – 22 November 1718), better known as Blackbeard, was an English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of Britain's North American colonies. Little is known about his early life, but he ma ...

, famously did this, and sometimes upon sight of their ship, with a pirate flag replacing the deceptive friendly one, the ship would immediately surrender. However, this was not limited historically to pirates, as the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

had used this tactic when chasing

Bartholomew Roberts Bartholomew Roberts (17 May 1682 – 10 February 1722), born John Roberts, was a Welsh pirate who was, measured by vessels captured, the most successful pirate of the Golden Age of Piracy. During his piratical career, he took over 400 prize shi ...

Usage

These phrases have been used many times in literary works, even in modern-day writings. ''"With flying colours"'' has many variations preceding it, such as ''to pass...'', ''came out...'', and ''came through...'',Bryan, et al., p. 171. but all have essentially the same meaning derived from the allusionBrewer (2001), p. 271. to nautical triumph or victory,Baker, p. 249. honor, or public success. ''"Go down with colours flying"'' and ''"Nail your colours to the mast"'' are used similarly to the nautical allusion, and are phrases to express persistence or stubbornness. ''"Sailing under false colours"'', consistent with its nautical origin, is another way to express deception, or to mislead or mystify.British journal of dental science, p. 469.

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Usage

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