flag [LME] The flag that means ‘a stone slab’ is recorded from medieval English as a piece of cut turf and may be one of the words given to us by the Vikings, making it a relative of flaw [ME], originally a snowflake or spark of fire, then a fragment, becoming a defect in the 15th century, the common idea probably being ‘a portion of something’. The flag which is used as the emblem of a country has been with us since the mid 16th century, and is a different word. It is likely to represent the sound of something flapping in the wind, although it may also be connected with an obsolete word flag meaning ‘hanging down’. When we want to make clear our support for something we might say that we show the flag [E20th]. Originally this was used of a naval vessel making an official visit to a foreign port. Flag [M16th] meaning ‘become tired’ is probably related to the ‘emblem’ flag. It first meant ‘flap about loosely, hang down’.